by Rab Bruce’s Spider

Twitter @RabBrucesSpider

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Accessibility icon blindness

IT’S A LOW-TECH article this month. I decided it was about time I covered the most basic aid a visually impaired person (VIP) can use: the long cane.

Some visually impaired people have guide dogs, some use long canes, and some use both. There is no right or wrong, and there is no objective way to say that one method of finding your way around is better than the others. It is fundamentally a case of finding what works best for you as an individual. Since I am not fond of dogs, it would be a bad idea for me to try to use a guide dog, both for me and for the dog.

The long cane is, however, the most basic aid a visually impaired person can have, so its maybe worth explaining a little how these are used.

One thing I have heard several blind people say is that the long cane is liberating. Once you start using one, you realise just how much stress you were suffering when trying to battle on without one. Once you get over the social awkwardness of admitting that you have a sight problem, using a long cane really does make a difference to your confidence.