 |
 |
 |
 |
Why White Cane Travel is Important, by Mitzi Tharin
One thing that I really did not want to do even though I kept losing my vision was use the white cane. Of everything I had to learn, that is the one thing that I fought the most. In the beginning I was embarrassed and the thought of using a cane in public made me very uncomfortable. I imagined everyone saying, "hey look: she is blind!" That sounds horrible, but that's the way I felt and I did everything you can imagine to not use it. Things really did start getting hard on me because I fought it so hard. I had people to help me when we went places so I did get around and still did things, but I had to rely on others all the time.
So when getting around really got to the point that it was causing problems I went through mobility training a second time, this time with a better attitude and a great instructor. I re-learned it and sucked up my pride and after much practice using my white cane got to be an almost normal feeling. I gradually became less self conscious and it really did make a big difference in my life. Now I am comfortable with it, can manage to get around, and am happy that I got over those first foolish feelings.
When you can go to your mail box, when you can go outside without fear of stumbling around, when you can be comfortable at work, when you can get around to do what you have to do such as find the washroom on the next floor down without having to bring along someone, it makes a difference. The comfort you feel by doing little things like that makes life so much nicer.