Visually impaired children benefit from earlier introduction to long cane

When "T" started kindergarten, she was an independent, confident child who was fully able to move about in her new environment—even though she was the only visually impaired child in her school and used a long cane. T was born in 2003 with Leber's congenital amaurosis, a rare inherited eye disease, and has no light perception. She was introduced to the long cane at the early age of 14 months to foster her independence of mobility and functioning.

"Early Long Cane Use: A Case Study" appears in the Winter 2010 issue of AER Journal: Research and Practice in Visual Impairment and Blindness. The article discusses the philosophy behind the early introduction of the long cane and follows an Australian child's orientation and mobility training from the age of 14 months to the age of 4 years, 6 months.

Like any toddler, T's first explorations with her long cane included feeling it, chewing it, and banging it around. To make it an essential part of her daily life, it was named "Tinkerbell" and accompanied T and her family wherever they went. Gradually, rules about using the long cane were introduced, including keeping it on the ground, grasping it with the index finger pointed down, and using an appropriate arc width.

T's orientation and mobility training during this time emphasized fun and exploration. She was encouraged, but not required, to use the long cane. Over time it became automatic for her to reach for it in order to travel independently.

The training included exposure to other visually impaired children who use a long cane, allowing older children to serve as role models for the younger ones. T attended Braille Nest, a weekly group program for visually impaired children who are enrolled in their local schools, where they are generally the only child with such an impairment.

An essential part of T's success and all such early childhood orientation and mobility programs is collaboration among those teaching the child. The orientation and mobility specialists, early childhood teachers, parents, and classroom teachers were made aware of techniques and terminology and helped to reinforce them. T and other children like her are able to start school independently with a set of positive skills already in place.

The full text of this article is available at http://www2.allenpress.com/pdf/aerj-03-01fnl.pdf