Tag Archive for Long cane

Splashing in puddles

There are very few instances where I would say my long cane is better than my living, breathing, thinking guide dog; however puddles would most certainly be on the list.

Why you may be asking? Well, it comes down to feedback.

Despite being a Labrador-Retriever Cross, my guide dog Fizz DID NOT like walking in puddles when she is in harness. Which you may think is brilliant for me, however that isn’t the case; as she has no issue with walking me through the puddle as long as she can keep her own paws dry.

So generally the first I know there is a puddle is when I find myself walking in it. The only time I get a heads up that it may be there is because Fizz will walk be either to the left or right of the path so she doesn’t have to walk in it.

This is where a cane is very different. And it can actually give me additional information too on how deep the puddle may be, or how much of the path it covers.

How? I hear you ask….

As a long cane works by sweeping the ground before you, roughly by one and a half steps ahead of me based on the sweeping motion, it can give not just feedback on the objects that may be in the in my path, but the texture and changes of the ground itself.

And when that comes to water, the sound and feel of the sweep is altered.

A shallow covering of water gives very little resistances; yet a deep puddle is like moving a spoon through thick custard.

And as I sweep wirh my cane around a puddle the sound also helps to give feedback on the depth; so that I can try and walk through the shallower parts or even avoid the puddle all together.

Candy gets an upgrade

When Fizz retired in November 2021, I didn’t expect to facing the summer still being reliant on a cane.

But here we are heading into July and the bruises on my stomach and side from multiple cane jabs are beginning to take its toll.

I had previously increased my cane tip from a marshmallow (size and shape not texture!) to a ball. Which as the name suggests is like having a white tennis ball on the end of my cane. The larger tip meant that the jabs were fewer; but the larger the tip the less sensation and feedback.

To give an example of this, beside my house is an older crossing where the tactile paving is under a tree, so throughout the winter the leaves would cover the tactile paving and as such make it difficult to feel that I was approaching the crossing as the larger ball tip didn’t pick up the bumps beneath the leaves.

So, as I am about to head away for a break in Cornwall; I undecided an upgrade was on the cards. Through Facebook connections and groups I had seen a few friends using the ‘no jab cane’. It looked amazing.

So, what is a no jab cane? I hear you ask.

Its actually quite clever: it is where the handle and first section of the cane is hollow, with a spring inside, so that when the cane tip gets caught or jars on an object or cracked paving stone the cane has a shock absorber, that by going into the handle softens the blow and saves my stomach or sides from a blunt force jab.

Because I need as much feedback as possible from my cane I also ordered it with reverting back to the marshmallow tip.

It’s been amazing! The feedback from the smaller tip is much preferred and although there is the occasional jab; I certainly feel the shock absorber taking the force more often instead of me.

The handle on the cane is also much more comfortable; instead of being a black sponge like coating, it is a padded red leather with both a rounded edge and a flat edge to be more comfortable in my hand. As usual the cane also comes with a black elastic strap to secure around my wrist and to secure the cane when folded.

My cane still has the red and white reflectors, so is still my ‘candy cane’ … But a much appreciated upgrade.

When you realise you know a little too much geek about crossings

Recently Open Sight hosted an afternoon tea in my town. This saw many people visiting from outside the area. I was asked to help give directions for those coming in on both the train and the bus; because they are at opposite ends of town in relation to the venue.

Fareham has a funny one-way system that was put in place to elongate the traffic entering the town.

It was when explaining this to the visitors that I realise I know a little too much about light controlled crossings, which I just assumed was ‘common knowledge’ to all.

So, thought it was time I shared some of my geeky knowledge with the rest of you

Firstly, many people assume that the button controls for pedestrian lights are always on the right hand side; that’s not actually the case. The button control is always on the side of the oncoming traffic; it is just that on an ordinary road this places it on the right hand side. However, when you are on a one-way street the button control may well be on the left to indicate the direction of traffic.

In Hampshire (thanks to Hampshire highways only using Siemens traffic lights) all button controlled lights also have a cone under the yellow box; this cone spins when the green man comes on to indicate it is safe for visually impaired and blind people to cross.

Not all button controlled traffic lights have a beep; this isn’t because the sound is broken rather it is another tactic to support those who are visually impaired or even hard of hearing. If there are multiple sets of button controlled lights close to each other then the sound will be removed from them all. Especially if different lights run on different sequences. This is to make it safer for pedestrians; to save someone stepping out in front of moving traffic because they mishear the beep from a near by button controlled crossing.

So, here it is just some of the more interesting parts of my ‘geek knowledge’ when it comes to traffic lights and pedestrian crossings.

And don’t even ask me to start to explain the different types and styles of tactile paving !!!

Pain of a Cane

It’s been six months now since the whirlwind that was my second guide dog Fizz retired. She is living her best life, enjoying her retirement and even living with another black lab who is also retired; but much younger than her called Ashby. So you could even say she has found herself a toy boy!

I have been missing her terribly in all honesty.

Not just as my guide dog, but as my companion.

The house seems too quiet when the kids aren’t home.

However a friends suggestion of a weighted blanket on my bed has certainly helped. Especially because in the last few years I had allowed Fizz to slip into the habit of sleeping on my bed. The extra weight on the covers really does help.

I could have used the excuse of reverting back to ‘Candy’ (my cane has red stripes to symbolise that I am deaf blind, thus picking up the nick-name candy the cane) as a way to shut off the outside world and limit (or restrict) my independence. Especially over the winter months when the darkness was greater.

But I didn’t …

I set myself the challenge of walking each day, some days this has been the 4 mile round trip to grab a coffee from Nero. (Other coffee houses are available)

When I am on a route I know well and is fairly quiet; like the route to town. I can feel quite free, quite confident and faster in my walking pace.

However, as I approach the shops, the busier areas and the unpredictability of people I can feel quite weak. I liken it to feeling like a small child. And I get even smaller when I come across the unexpected; such as building works, market stalls or additional outside seating for cafes etc.

However, I am stubborn. I refuse to let this weaken me. I just wished that my cane had sort of robotic system in it that I could say “let’s go to the bank” and it would navigate me there avoiding all the obstacles?

Oh wait … That’s a guide dog!

What I really REALLY really need is for “That Call” to say a possible match has been found.

I am (one of) the highest priories on the Guide Dog waiting list. However, as I have explained before. They look to match the personality and lifestyle of the person to the personality and workability of the dog. Along with looking at other things such as walking speed, the persons height and workload for the dog. Which all means that there may still be some time to wait for a dog that matches my needs.

So, for now it’s back ti my love-hate relationship with Candy and asking friends for a little more support.

And trying not to cause any more bruises from the regular stomach jabs or arm jars in the process.

Myth Bust: This blind girl CAN shop!

Today I had a very rough encounter with a shop assistant. A very quizzical, judgemental encounter….. But rather than be negative, this got me thinking; unless you have a visual impairment or live within close proximity to someone who does, this may be a common misconception that anyone of my readers may also hold.

So here in a series of blogs I am going to look at busting some myths and misconceptions. Now as my blog is all about me (selfish I know!) what I write here works for me and is my point of view. Sight loss has a MAHOOSIVE variant in the many that it affects, so what works for me may not work for another. After all VIs (Visually Impaired) are unique Human beings with their own individual characteristics.

I personally love to shop! Muse through rails of clothes, feeling the different texture. I find some shops easier than others, I also have my staple ‘go to’ shops for my essentials.

When I trained with my guide dog (both of them) it was explained to me about how a dog works in certain environments. How a dog works in a supermarket for example is different to how they work in a clothes shop. And most of this is down to how we as humans move around in said shops.

Mostly because of how the shops themselves lay out their stock. A supermarket is quite regimented, with aisles and shelving. Where as clothes shops work with rails, displays and a more ‘hap-hazard’ movable approach.

So, when in a clothes shop I do not ‘work’ my guide dog Fizz. By this I mean I do not hold her harness handle and ask her to guide me around….. Manly because we wouldn’t get past the first row of clothes as the space between rails isn’t wide enough for Fizz to work properly!

So once inside a clothes store I will simply hold her lead, I will keep her on my left hand side and I will use my right hand to feel my way around the store, feeling out mostly for the ends of rails that could cause me issues if I bump them.

The stores I frequent regularly are used to me and Fizz, they even know that at times she will just lay down if I am spending too long looking at a section! After all she is a dog; she has no need or interest in clothes!

But when we go into a different shop (which doesn’t happen often) the other shoppers (as today) and the staff appear amazed by it.

Today’s encounter saw me being asked to leave. And this was because the store assistant believed that I was not VI and that my guide dog was just a pet. (Despite her harness and all her ‘uniform’ stating she is just that)

The store assistant had watched me move around, touching the clothes, but that my dog was just walking behind me. I did explain the main reason for this was because the space between the clothes was only just big enough for me to walk in, let alone Fizz to walk beside me.

I explained how I am trained with Fizz and how dropping harness means she doesn’t have to be responsible for trying to navigate in such an unnavigable space. To which the store assistant became very interested and was then asking questions out of interest not judgement.

Another point to make is that clothes shopping isn’t a rushed affair (not for me anyway) So I take my time, I can focus using what little sight I have left on navigating my way around. It’s not ideal and at times it doesn’t always work. But it is making the best of the situation.

For me, I prefer to shop alone for clothes, not be rushed or concerned with someone else getting bored or fed up with me. So this is how I work around it. It’s a quirk and it is following my guide dog training; which means I can’t be the only person who does this.

After all VIs shop, VIs go out alone and VIs above all else, have their own minds.

Personally I would not consider going clothes shopping using my long cane. As most clothes are hung on rails a cane could alert me to the floor being clear, but won’t alert me to the tops hanging from a rail (if the lighting isn’t right for me to see) And for this reason I do understand why some VIs prefer to shop with others.

So, I hope you have enjoyed this Mythe bust? Feel free to comment below on this subject or other myths you may have questions about.

Hybrids are great … BUT

…. When your visually impaired even good hearing wouldn’t have helped.

This beautifully hot summer that is killing the grass and creating havoc with everyone’s sleep is also creating issues for us guide dog owners, I am seeing friends arrive at work for 6am and getting taxis home as they must have their dogs with them.  I have been taking Fizz out early morning or late evening.

But I still have things to do.  Appointments to attend and meetings to sit in on.

Today was one such day.

Today’s meeting was at 10am, by which time temperature was already mid-twenties, knowing that I would be travelling home again by lunch.  Fizz was left with daytime tv and a cool house (all my curtains were drawn-the neighbours must thing I am sleeping all day!)

Anyway.  With my faithful hound limited to her work, I too have been limited to how much I have been walking also ….. And it’s starting to annoy me!

So today on my way home after my meeting I decided to get off the bus earlier and walk the 25 minutes home (instead of getting a second bus)

Using my cane I am walking slower, taking more time crossing the road and ‘scanning’ my route more; which is creating eye strain issues as-well.

All was going well, I was even managing to navigate the bins left precariously after the bin-men had done their rounds.

Then before I knew what had happened I felt a sharp pain in my left thigh & hip.  The moments that followed are a bit blurred and also a time that seemed to last for too long.

I must add that I am ok.  I am after all writing my blog about this.

But today I was hit by a car.

It was low speed, the car was reversing off a driveway and as the title suggests….. it was a hybrid so at such low speed wasn’t omitting any sound.

The man driving the car was quickly by my side as I found myself falling down.  I suffered bad bruising and scratches to both my thighs (one from the car, the other from the pavement) and some soreness in my hand where I put it out to push against the car.

No lasting damage and thankfully no damage to my cane or the contents of my bag (which included my iPad) from being on the side of the impact.

Bruises will fade, grazes will heal and for now I won’t be wearing any short shorts! (Although my leg looks pretty colourful!)

But for me, my confidence has been knocked.

This evening as I headed out for another meeting I found myself fearful walking past houses with driveways.  I stopped at each and every one as if it were a road crossing.

I found myself doubting my ability to do this.

I found myself wanting to turn around and go back home….. But I didn’t.  I got the bus into town and sat in the sun with a cold glass of water, pottered about getting some shopping and found myself writing this.

Hybrid cars do have their place and I am very pro them.

However the law in the EU about them having a ‘white noise’ added doesn’t take affect on new built cars until July 2019 and retrospectively added to older models until 2021.  As detailed in many newspaper articles earlier this year.  Such as this one I have included below:

Daily Mail Article May 2018

 

Comfort zones

Prolonged hot weather and guide dogs don’t mix.  So where I have been using my cane for all ‘ESSENTIAL’ journeys and cancelling those I could, the length of this heatwave is getting rediculous now!

I can’t keep cancelling things, I can’t keep letting people down.  I can’t keep letting myself down!

Then a very such event popped up in the diary.  An event that no-one would have judged me for for not attending; but one I really wanted to go to and be part of.  So with some extra planning I didn’t let myself cancel.

I even arranged a ‘puppy sitter’ for my faithful Fizz so she would have company and I could take my time….. Also as this event saw me travelling to London it wouldn’t have been fair on her just having the neighbour pop in every few hours.

Yup, you read that right…. I went to London; more so I went to London dogless!

The event was facilitating and supporting route setting for an informal para-comp being hosted by VauxWall Bouldering Centre and Paraclimbing London.

The wall wanted to run the competition to enable abled bodied, non-sensory-Impaired climbers to gain an understanding of how someone could climb with differing abilities.  The competition was also set up so that those with impairments could try out bouldering or improve on what they were already doing.

Being a very hot day meant that London would feel EVEN HOTTER to an outsider like me.  The event was also set to take place on the very same day that The Gay Pride Parade marched on London; and if that’s wasn’t enough, it was also the day that the England Football team got into the Quarter Finals of the World Cup for the first time in decades!

So, as the title suggests ….. Who needs a comfort zone anyway?

Maybe it was the heat beginning to take its toll.  Maybe it was the chance to climb.  Maybe it was simply the fact that I felt I needed to prove to MYSELF that I could do this….. Who knows.

Anyway,  train ticket bought, journey planned and even altered so I didn’t have to tube through London with my cane. (Vauxhall is just one change at Clapham Junction-a station I have regularly used) and I even (virtually) walked the route from the station to Starbucks and then onto VauxWall via Google Streetview.

I planned to arrive early, sadly delays due to network rail engineering works and cancelled trains changed that for me.  However it did mean that I arrived ON TIME!

Selfie photograph of me sat inside VauxWall with people climbing behind me and the signage for VauxWall behind me

The climbing was great fun, even though I sustained an injury to my left hip and right knee.  Paraclimbing London and VauxWall had a brilliant turn out (despite the weather, pride and football) And I found myself only leaving 30 minutes before I had originally planned; in case there were similar issues on the way home.

It wasn’t easy to navigate major (or even minor) railway stations with my cane.  It wasn’t easy navigating where the door to Starbucks was and it most certainly wasn’t easy to navigate finding a seat (or even assistance) on the train.

But I did do it.

Big tick to me.

Although I wouldn’t do it again out of choice!

Its good to challenge yourself some times, it’s good to know that barring the odd ‘rib-jab’ my cane akills are still pretty good.

 

Panoramic photograph of the room hosting the competition in VauxWall with people stood around and some climbing

The pain of my cane

A few weeks ago my faithful Guide Dog had to temporarily hang up her harness to have a lump removed (just a ‘older age’ cyst, very routine) With her doing this, I had to dust of my long cane. I have kept up my cane skills and on occasions have used it when it has not been practical to use Vicky. However, it has been a long time since I have used it on this scale….. Even when I trained with it, my independence wasn’t what it is now, so team this a decrease in my usable sight and it has been a hard 10 days.

I managed the first few days of her being off work with doing very minimal trips out, mostly because she was very groggy from the operation, so I daren’t leave her too long at home. I then managed to time things in with when I was seeing friends who could come with me.

But there is only so many times I could do this, not to mention, wanted to do this! I was struggling with the dependancy I had on others.

So off I went alone, with only a few of the normal ‘cane jabs’ recieved from uneven paths, or missing a curb edge. These are part of ‘the norm’ any long cane user will tell you about.

On Friday, one week after her op, Vicky was delivered to a boarders, where she got to enjoy some doggy company and rest, while I went up to London to see my eye specialist and professor for a dna trial I am part of.

A trip I dislike at the best of times, but without my faithful friend I felt lost. I had a friend with me, but the concentration needed in London increases ten-fold even with a guide dog, with the cane it was horrendous. Even before I had my eyes dilated and could see even less.

Thankfully my friend drove to help ease my stress. But the concentration needed even for the much shorter walk from the car to the hospital was too much. (Thats another post though.)

By the time we left the hospital four hours later my eyes were heavily dilated and what little I usually see was much smaller and incredibly painful. At this point the cane was used purely to role infront of me and I linked in to my friend for support.

Saturday morning I headed off to collect my son from his friends house where he had been enjoying a sleep over. Hearing the bus coming up the road, I started to run, resulting in me going over the top of my cane having caught it on a drain, flying forward through the air and landing on the palms of my hands and my knee.

Ouch…… it stung, but the embarrassment was much worse, especially as it was actually the bus driver who had seen my fall and got off his bus to help me up and check me over if needed.

 

Thankfully, grazes, bruises and a damaged pride were all I suffered. I couldn’t stop, the day was getting away with me and I still had to pick up Vicky after Lawrence, so there was no time to hang about, go home or even feel sorry for myself.

It was just one of those ‘blind fails’ as I call them.

 

So on I went, enjoyed the rest of the day and soaked my wounds in a warm bath later.

Having used a long cane for some time, I am used to the odd bump. Either from me bumping into something, or a poorly laid pavement causing my cane to ‘stab’ me.

But I could not cope without it when my guide dog isn’t available. Because without either cane of dog, I could not cope on my own in the great outdoors.

I was not prepared for the bump I had on Monday on my way to college though…………

I had negotiated my local station, no problems. With the odd ankle sweep for people who thought they could nip in in front of me to cut me up. (One of the enjoyable sides of using a long cane over a guide dog!!!)

Generally as usual, people were very helpful. I was asked upon reaching the station I required, if I needed any assistance, to which I politely thanked them and said (knowing the station well) that I would be fine and headed for the stairs.

Up the stairs, across the bridge no problem, almost down the stairs on the other side when it happened.

When walking up stairs, I hold my cane upright in front of me, in the middle of my body, so that I can use it to judge the depth and height of the treat on the stair and also to be able to feel when I have reached the top step.

On the way down though, this is different. On walking down steps, having swept the ground on the initial step to find the first step down, I then hold my cane like a pencil, so that it crosses my body on a diagonal, so that the ball tip can run along each of the steps again so I can feel the depth and also feel when I reach the final step.

My cane is no more than my shoulder width while doing this, so that it is not sticking out, but enough to enable me to feel if an obstacle is in my way.

So, almost at the bottom of the staircase, I had already negotiated the 180 degree return half way down, the commuters with suitcases and bikes rushing up the stairs to get to their platforms.

When I felt someone rush past me very closely also coming down the stairs. Someone who caught the ball of my cane with their foot, causing it to move out from where it was rolling along the step edge. In the split second it took for me to recover it back to the step I had missed the bottom two steps and landed on right knee with my right hand again taking the brunt of the floor.

 

A kind women helped me up, while another bought a guard over. They were concerned and checked my hands for cuts and any sign of breaks.

I felt (yet again) very embarrassed by falling and was doing all I could not to cry or get upset in front of these strangers.

When the guard arrived, I shoe’d the helpers away. I was stood up again and just wanted to get to college and away from people.

The guard asked me how I was and what had happened, I explained that it was ‘just one of those things’ and that I was more embarrassed than anything. To which he suggested that next time I use the lift, or had assistance in the station, “after all, you are disabled and shouldn’t do these things alone.”

I think this upset me more than pain in my hands. I did all I could do, which was to thank him for his help and left the station.

 

I made it across the road before bursting into tears, I had to hear a friendly voice, so using Siri on my phone (as I always do) I called a friend….. It took a few attempts as Siri had trouble understanding a blubbering me!

My friend was fab, calmed me right down and checked that I really was ok. Even making me laugh at a silly joke.

 

By the time I got to college I was composed and ready to face the day.

I daren’t share what happened with any of my college group for fear it would set me off again.

Having managed to escape any further bruising to my knee, but having my right palm take the full brunt of it, I am now wearing a padded support on my hand and wrist to help relieve the pain that I am in and also to cushion my wrist and palm, so that I can still use my long cane and try and not put myself into a forced hibernation until my trusted guide dog is ready to return to work.

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