2014-10-15-In Celebration of White Cane Safety Day
Seminars@Hadley
In Celebration of White Cane Safety Day
Presented by
Pam Winters
Cathy Pasinski
Ginger Irwin
Danette Johnson
Moderated by
Dawn Turco
October 15, 2014
Host
You’re listening to Seminars@Hadley. This seminar is “In Celebration of White Cane Safety Day,” presented by Pam Winters, Cathy Pasinski and Ginger Irwin; moderated by Dawn Turco.
Dawn Turco
Good morning and welcome to today’s Seminars@Hadley. I’m Dawn Turco and I am moderating today’s seminar. And today is October 15th so we are celebrating White Cane Safety Day.
Perhaps some of you participating today are white cane users, and would probably agree if so that it’s an invaluable tool for people who are blind or visually impaired. And indeed the white cane affords a freedom of movement you might not otherwise have.
Well it is White Cane Safety Day, not only in the US but I saw on the Lyon’s Club International site they had a list of events, and it’s actually International White Cane Safety Day as well. And for our Canadian participants, and we always have visitors from Canada, I read that you have White Cane Week in February – so how cool is that?
Well, I said today was going to be a little unusual as I waited to start today’s seminar. Live events often have a panel of presenters and today we do have a panel but they’re not so live. Earlier in late summer we had an event here at Hadley, and we had some of our part-time instructors in for that event – three of whom are certified O&M specialists. And as much as we noodle around ideas for celebrating October 15th we can’t do a Flash dance, the other seminar space, so we decided to do something a little bit more fitting of this environment.
So we do have a presentation starting with Pam Winters who is giving us a history of the white cane and its day. Cathy Pasinski is here talking about types and varieties of canes and tips and such; and then the third presenter is Ginger Irwin who is talking about more or less Cane Repair 101.
Well, Pam and Ginger work in school districts and knew they wouldn’t be available today but did want to participate in the event. So we have a pre-recording I will be launching momentarily. But because we want to have conversation in the room today Cathy is joining us as well as Danette Johnson, one of the newer instructors at Hadley who is also an O&M’er. And then we figured today’s participants – you may have a lot to say about the white cane, White Cane Safety Day, and we’re thinking some participants are not currently cane users and might make some decisions based on what we have to say today.
So anyway, it’s all in celebration of the white cane and I am going to get us started with this pre-recording. And Pam is starting out as I said with the history of white canes and White Cane Day. So let me push the button.
Pam, why don’t you get us started off with a little history about the white cane?
Pam Winters
Okay, hi everybody. I today am going to go over a brief history as Dawn said of the white cane and how in particular October 15th came to be White Cane Safety Day, which actually is 50 years ago today.
We’ve all heard the white cane called many things other than a white cane. Probably the most common of these mistaken names is the dreaded “stick.” The use of a cane, walking stick or staff as a travel device actually began back in Biblical times when shepherds used the crook or the hook of their staff to gather their herds of sheep. It also symbolized the solitary travel of the shepherd, though.
But then in 1860 Sir Francis Campbell experimented with the use of a long cane for foot travel at the Perkins School for the Blind. But it wasn’t until around 1920 that we started using the cane as an identifier for people with visual impairments.
So I’m going to go over some of those key points in history: in 1921 Englishman James Boggs lost his vision in an accident. He still wanted to walk independently within his community and so he decided to paint a walking stick white because he’d hoped to be more noticeable by the growing number of motorists at that time.
It wasn’t until ten years later that – and now I’m going to have to take a little bit of time here with this name, because it’s French and I’ve never taken French before in my life – it’s Guilly d’Herbemont of France advocated nationally for the white walking stick. This news traveled to England and eventually in 1931 there was a radio broadcast on the BBC that proposed that each person with a visual impairment be issued a white walking stick.
Back here in the United States the Lyon’s Club International is credited for the birth of the white cane movement. Similarly to how things went in England, there was a Lyon’s Club member once who witnessed a blind man crossing the road using a black cane and realized that it was difficult for motorists to see the black cane. In 1931 Lyon’s Club International started a national campaign to promote the use of a white walking stick or cane and it was held in a stationary diagonal position by people with visual impairments.
The first actual white cane ordinance was passed in Peoria, Illinois in 1931. It was the first formal legislation that gave blind cane users the right of way when travelling with a white cane. And then five years later in the City of Detroit a similar city ordinance was passed, and that eventually led to the first state white cane law in Michigan passed by Governor Frank Murphy in 1937.
So then we get into the training part of white cane, which really came into play as WWII blinded veterans began returning to the United States. In order to promote the white cane as a mobility device that would assist these veterans in regaining their independence, Dr. Richard Hoover altered the cane by lengthening it to make it more functional for this use.
The first formal training programs took place during WWII at Valley Forge Veterans Hospital in Pennsylvania and at Heinz Veterans Hospital in Illinois. The field of Orientation & Mobility grew out of these programs and the first six Orientation & Mobility specialists were selected at Heinz VA in 1947.
And I can say from a personal standpoint that it gives me great pride even though it was several decades later that I did my internship at Heinz. And it’s really cool for me to be a part of such a historic rehabilitation facility.
So then we continue on and momentum for white cane legislation continued through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. On October 6th, 1964, the joint houses of Congress passed Resolution HR-753 declaring October 15th to be White Cane Safety Day. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed that bill into law, Public Law 88628 just hours later.
In his proclamation, President Johnson stressed the importance of the white cane as both a tool for independence and a visual symbol to others by stating “I urge civic and service organizations, schools, public bodies to join in this observance. Appropriate activities designed to promote continuing awareness of the significance of the white cane to blind persons. I call upon all our citizens to make every effort to promote the safety and welfare of our blind persons on the streets and highways and thereby to contribute to their independence of spirit and their capability of self-management.”
I love the phrase “independence of spirit.” To me it describes the functional aspect of the white cane but also embodies the emotional and personal satisfaction that comes from using a white cane.
In 2011, President Barack Obama renamed October 15th to be the Blind Americans Equality Day, stating in his proclamation “We celebrate the achievements of blind and visually impaired Americans and reaffirm our commitment to advancing their complete social and economic integration.” Like the presidents before him, President Obama called on officials, business and community leaders, librarians and Americans across the country to observe this day with appropriate ceremony, activities and programs.
And I think it’s interesting to note that President Obama’s proclamation also included a reference to the recently-signed Pedestrian Safety Enhancement Act, which is requiring that manufacturers of electric and hybrid cars add sounds to alert pedestrians to the unusual quietness of these vehicles. So you can kind of see the progression through time that we now have to consider different things in our white cane travel.
Around the world October 15th has internationally become a day to both celebrate the white cane and educate others regarding its use. When I was doing my research I was surprised to find out that in the United States the Lyon’s Club also has the third week in May set aside as White Cane Week; I wasn’t aware of that. And Canada also has a specific week set aside, which is the first week in February. So there are other times of the year that we should be promoting white cane safety other than October 15th.
So then as a public school educator of students with visual impairments, it’s really important to me that my students learn how to use their cane and feel comfortable with using them from a young age. That’s why I work closely with their Orientation & Mobility specialist, who in this case also happens to be one of our co-presenters here, Ginger. Together we provide fun learning experiences in the school and out in the community that promote the development of safe travel skills.
We also in my school celebrate White Cane Safety Week, and some of the things that we do are display handmade posters throughout the school that are made by the kids. And then every morning on the announcements that week, each one of my students will announce a white cane safety tip to the rest of the school. So there’ll be things like “Never jump over someone’s cane,” or “If you have to move someone’s cane for some reason make sure you always tell them where you put it and those sorts of things.
And the kids memorize those and read those and are really excited to be part of the school community by sharing information about their white cane, so hopefully by educating those around us they can become comfortable with using their canes as tools for independence.
So I think that’s it for my part and I think we’re moving on to Cathy then who’s going to talk about some of the types of canes and tips that we use.
Dawn Turco
Thanks, Pam, that was really great. And not only did we get the history but we got some great ideas and what you’re doing in your school that maybe some of those listening in can start making posters as soon as we’re finished with today’s seminar.
Meanwhile, while they’re thinking posters we’re going to hand the microphone off to Cathy Pasinski who’s in the office with me today as well. And Cathy’s going to go through a lot of information I think about the various kinds and types of tips and canes available out there. So the microphone is yours, Cathy.
Cathy Pasinski
Thank you, Dawn. Hi everybody. I was listening to this wonderful history and learning that the original cane was made out of wood by the shepherds, and it reminded me of an ex-client I had a few years ago.
He was an adult male who had lost his vision and had never heard of Orientation & Mobility. So when I first met him he presented me with his handmade cane which was made out of a tree limb, and he had wrapped blue electrical tape around it. And that’s what he used to go in public with because he felt it helped him negotiate a little bit better than not having anything.
And of course I was a little surprised to say the least and I informed him that I will provide him with a proper cane that he can use to get around town. And of course we spent a year together doing orientation & mobility and he was very successful in the end with his nice white cane that I provided for him.
So I’m going to present about different kinds of canes that exist and tips that go on the cane. There’s a lot of choices nowadays so I’ll just try to go through them and keep you informed.
The regular white cane, the original one was called a rigid cane. Usually it was made from aluminum and the bottom of the cane has a tip. And it also has six inches of red reflective tape on the bottom which is the symbol for visually impaired people in the USA.
Other kinds of canes now are folding canes where you can have three or four sections and you can fold it and fit it into your purse or your briefcase or your back pocket. They have telescopic canes where it’s structured like a telescope where each piece kind of folds into each other and it becomes shorter, short enough to fit in your purse or your briefcase again. We also have kiddie canes which are little canes for little people, little children that are starting out learning orientation & mobility.
We have support canes for people that have a physical impairment or an older traveler who needs support. We have the identification cane which is a lighter version of a folding cane or a rigid cane. It’s used just for identification that you have a visual impairment when you’re traveling out around – when you have low vision you can see enough that you don’t need the cane for safety but it’s good to inform the other people around you and the traffic that you are visually impaired. And finally there is a guide cane which you can use with a guide – a guide dog or a human guide or something for occasional use.
We also have now electronic canes that have been around for a little while, and of course they keep getting complicated as the years go on and technology keeps getting better. So there’s some that I found. One is found an I-Cane. This one is pretty cool because you can actually record directions on it and it also has a sensor where it avoids obstacles. It vibrates; it lets you know that there’s an obstacle ahead. But how cool is that to have the directions recorded on there for you?