When do you think a cane should be introduced? What variables are involved?
When do you think a cane should be introduced? What variables are involved?
Mobility specialists use a variety of tools with preschoolers to get them used to moving in space and get them ready for cane travel. Even pre-toddlers can benefit from independent movement by using a walker. Physical therapists have reservations about walkers, so talk to a therapist before trying one. As an early mobility tool, however, walkers are great because they allow blind children to move through and explore space at a very young age.
Toddlers can walk behind objects, like toy shopping carts. These become bumpers as they are pushed about the house or down a sidewalk. Some mobility specialists put hula hoops around students and let them careen about the china shop. Pushing large balls works too. The Walkalone is a mobility tool similar to the standup walkers used with the physically impaired. The walkalong is light weight, sturdy and collapsible.
Even before children walk, they learn (and love) to bang on the world. The spoon is a favorite hammer of pre-toddlers. They should be encouraged to wack as many objects as possible to explore the feedback. When you hit the mashed potatoes you hear a mush sound. When you hit the pans they make clinks and clangs. When you smack your sister, mom takes the spoon away. Spoons, drum sticks, rulers (etc.) make great precane devises, getting kids ready to learn about the cane as a bumping and probing tool.
There is controversy about when to introduce a cane. Some mobility specialists believe that cane substitutes are a better idea at an early age because young kids develop sloppy cane habits that take a long time to break. Young students naturally stick a cane straight out in front, not diagonally, and with no movement. If they are allowed to do this (so the reasoning goes), they develop bad habits. I personally do not recommend cane substitutes. I introduce the cane early and address skill refinements as children become developmentally ready. Fredric Schroeder expressed the same philosophy in an article called "A step toward equality: Cane travel training for children: (Future Reflections Magazine):"
"The traditional thinking ... is that giving a cane to a very young child will result in the child's developing bad habits which will need to be remediated later on. We found this concern to be ... perplexing by its lack of understanding of child development. It would certainly be an exceptional two-year-old who would hold a crayon in the same manner as an adult holds a pencil. Nevertheless, it is recognized that a young child's early scribbling is providing good practice in the development of the fine motor skills which will eventually enable him or her to hold a pencil properly later on ... we do not expect young children to use the cane in the same manner as adults. We have found that as children grow, they become developmentally ready to master new aspects of efficient cane technique."
Children do not have the neuromuscular ability to demonstrate a fully fluent touch technique until late middle school. If the touch technique is the only criteria considered, then, yes, there will be a host of bad habits built up during the first 12 to 15 years of training. But the twenty one uses of the long cane can be taught from preschool to middle school. If a constant contact approach is used, then a modified touch technique can be taught in elementary school (and constant contact picks up drop offs well and easily detects objects in the path).
A cane can be introduced early without a lot of fanfare or formality; just carry it along on lessons as you explore the world. I usually put my hands over the child's and use a constant contact touch technique, all the while saying "It's safe, it's safe, it's safe" each time the cane sweeps along the floor. I use the cane to give kids experience probing (and talking about surfaces), bumping (and going around obstacles), drop off detection (handling steps), and echo awareness (listening for sounds coming back from the cane being banged on a floor or off hard surfaces). I show preschoolers what a cane does without a lot of technical explanation.
Sticks of any kind, or any long thin object (no skewers please) can begin the process of learning to probe. Once a child can grasp and bang, it's a logical next step to give him a longer spoon. It's OK to bang on lots of different surfaces (the dog, the dish water, dad who's trying to sleep . . . "Get up Dad, you bum . . . wham!"). Banging and listening to the echo is a good way to get the kids ready to use a cane as an echo location device (and it's good for lots of other things too, like sound localization and discrimination).
Most blind students have secondary impairments (because of severe complications that accompany accidents, birth trauma's and hereditary conditions). Adaptations have to be made in technique quite often and students have to be given latitude when they use the cane improperly (ie. most often you can't go by the book). Most students, however, can understand and demonstrate the many uses of the long cane, even if their diagonal and touch skills are rudimentary.
Low muscle tone can be associated with prematurity and low birth weight. Low tone isn't listed as one of the impairments that special education is supposed to address, but it is a serious secondary impairment, severely interfering with gait, speed, appearance, walking pattern and the ability to use cane techniques in the graceful and correct manner in which they were intended. Low tone is a birth condition and is evident even at the toddler stage. I have had some success using the NFB fiberglass cane with students who have low tone. The cane is light enough and is so well balanced that the students are able to manipulate it easier than the heavier aluminum canes.
The preschool years provide the mobility specialist with the first set of training objectives for the long cane. Here are some suggestions. During the preschool years, the student will:
Examine a long cane and talk about the parts.
Receive a cane of their own to carry on lessons
Experience a modified constant contact touch technique (slide the cane in front of them)
Experience the cane as a bumper, as a probe, and as an echo location device
Experience using the cane in a wide variety of spatial layouts and environments
Experience using the cane crossing streets while on walks with adults
Consider the cane second nature, part of the wardrobe
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