The Art and Science of Teaching Orientation and Mobility 2013 Edition made Screen Readable for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons by Professor T K Bansal.

The student needs to become familiar with the parts of a cane, the types of canes that are available, and the care and maintenance of the long cane. It is the responsibility of the O&M specialist to inform the student of the various options available to him in choosing a long cane, the strengths and weaknesses of the various canes on the market, and how to take care of and maintain the cane.

As the student learns the cane skills, he will be responsible for handling the cane properly in various situations to ensure his safety and the safety of others. Therefore, the student is responsible for bringing the cane to each lesson, caring for it properly, and replacing parts as they wear out or break. He learns to respect what the cane can and cannot detect and that it signifies that one who uses it has some degree of visual impairment.

5.2.1 Types of Canes

There are two basic types of long canes:
rigid canes and
folding canes.

Rigid canes are generally used during lessons, and later during independent travel, because they are more durable and provide greater sensory information than folding canes do. Using their canes, Students can learn to identify the composition of the terrain before they step onto various surfaces, like brick, cement, grass, mud, and puddles. Rigid long canes can easily detect surface changes like gradients and slopes and curbs. Folding canes are often preferred by seasoned travelers because they are more portable and more easily disposed of, that is, folded up and put aside when not needed, as compared to the rigid canes. Students learn to carry a spare folding cane with them when they are using a rigid cane for extended periods of time, in case the rigid cane bends or breaks during travel. (Folding canes are discussed in more detail later in this chapter.)

The standard rigid long cane is made up of a long, hollow shaft of aluminium, and usually has a golf putter-like grip on one end, and with a white nylon tip at the other end. Since its development by Richard Hoover and his colleagues during World War II, this basic cane has been modified a lot over the years. Various adaptations of the standard rigid cane include:
canes made of graphite;
canes made of fiberglass with a metal glide tip, such as the cane made by the National Federation of the Blind (NFB);
canes without a crook;
canes with an elastic cord on the grip end instead of the crook;
canes without a crook or an elastic cord on the ends;
and canes with a larger marshmallow- or mushroom-shaped nylon tip.

One specially developed cane, which is used in rural South Africa to travel along rugged terrain, has a long, U-shaped tip, and is called the Bundu Basher cane. Canes can be used with or without a coating of white-and-red reflective tape. (For more information on suppliers and manufacturers of canes, see the resources section.)

5.2.2 Parts of the Long Cane

The long cane has three basic parts:
the rubber grip, which is made out of a golf putter grip that has a flat edge along one side on which the user places his index finger;
the long aluminium shaft;
and The cane tip, which is made out of hard nylon and slips either over or into the end of the shaft.

(a) The heavy, rubber grip.

The rubber grip enables the user to grasp the cane in various temperatures and situations without losing control of it. Golf putter or golf putter-like grips are generally used for cane grips. The grip is unaffected by fluctuations in temperature and protects the user’s hand from perspiration in the heat and the shaft's coldness in low temperatures. The grip is glued or cemented onto the shaft at the proximal end of the cane.

(b) The long shaft.

The aluminium shaft is covered by red, white, or red and white strips of reflective tape. The strips have heat-sensitive backings, that is, when heat is induced by friction, will bond the tape with the aluminium shaft and provide a protective coating for the shaft. The colors identify a traveler with a visual impairment to the sighted public, which is especially helpful when the person is entering potentially dangerous situations or asking for assistance. The red strip is five inches long and is positioned along the shaft just above the edge of the cane tip. The white strip extends along the shaft from the edge of the red strip to the grip; its length depends on the remaining length of the shaft after the red strip is applied. If the cane is manufactured without the strips, the O&M specialist usually applies the strips after the student has learned to handle and care for the cane during the O&M program, and just before he is about to embark on regular outdoor independent travel, when he may need to ask for assistance from the public.

(c) The tip.

The hard nylon tip is long and narrow and transfers the sensory information about the terrain on which the user is walking. Long cane users learn to detect varying surface textures like smooth, cement sidewalks, broken sidewalks, macadam walkways, and brick surfaces. The nylon tip wears down over time and is replaced before it reaches the alluminium shaft. If the cane is held consistently and properly, the tip should wear down along the under edge when the two-point-touch technique is used. (For more information on this technique, see Chapter 6). As it wears, the tip should glide more easily along the ground.

Marshmallow-, mushroom-, and teardrop-shaped tips are round (or more oval), are smaller in length than the standard nylon tip, and fit just over the end of the shaft. These tips add weight to the end of the cane, which can aid people who have difficulty feeling the cane tip on the ground (such as elderly students or those with diabetes who lack feeling in their hands because of poor blood circulation). These tips glide more easily on various surfaces and thus are the tips preferred by many specialists and cane users, especially those who have multiple impairments. Some learners and specialists prefer roller ball tips that glide more easily along various terrains and surfaces.

The crook. A few canes are still manufactured with a crook just above the grip. The crook can be an extension of the shaft or an anodized aluminum addition to the cane. The crook is useful for hanging up the cane when it is not in use, and it helps the user determine tactilely where and how to grasp the cane. When the cane is allowed to rest naturally in the hand, the crook should point down to the ground, and the flat side of the grip where the index finger is positioned should be along the side of the cane (described as the diagonal cane technique later in this chapter and as the two-point-touch long cane technique in Chapter 6). The crook is helpful when the cane does not have a grip with a flat side to position the index finger easily, and it protects the knuckles when the diagonal cane technique is used. Moreover, if the cane is accidentally dropped on a slope, the crook will ensure that it will not roll far from the user.

5.2.3 Measuring and Storing the Long Cane

It is the responsibility of the O&M specialist to prescribe the type of cane to be used in lessons and to measure the student for a cane of the proper length. It should be noted that the discussion that follows applies to canes that are measured, cut, fitted, and assembled by the O&M specialist. In most cases today the O&M specialist need only measure the student for the cane and then purchase the cane, preassembled, directly from the manufacturer.

The initial cane length is measured as follows:

• With the student standing erect, the specialist places the crook or grip end of the cane on the ground and let it stand vertically against the student’s midline with the tip end resting on the student's chest.
• The cane is marked where it touches the base of the student’s sternum; two inches are added and a new line is marked, which is where the cane will be cut. As an alternative, the specialist marks the cane where it touches the base of the student's armpit, which usually is two inches higher than the sternum.
• Using a tube cutter, the specialist cuts off the excess shaft along the marked line and sands down the sharp edge. (A local hardware store may have a tube cutter located with the plumbing supplies. It is a handheld tool with a slot in which one places the metal (aluminium, in this case) tube or shaft. The cutter is tightened until it sits firmly on the line where one wants to cut. The entire tool is then rotated around the shaft several times as it slices into the shaft. The cutter is twisted tighter each time the tool is rotated around the shaft and the process continues until the cut is completed).

The determination of the initial length of the cane is somewhat arbitrary at this point in the student’s program, but the length will be close to the length that eventually will be prescribed. Other factors will contribute to determining the exact length:

• The length of the student's stride
• The student’s reaction time to locating obstacles in his path
• The student's ability to detect drop-offs

As the student relaxes while using the long cane during the next focus of instruction (outdoor residential travel), the O&M specialist observes the student's foot and cane placements as he walks along a sidewalk. She notes whether the student's cane tip touches down where his foot will be placed next. If the student over- or under-steps the cane, that is, if the cane tip touches down in front of his next foot placement (under-steps) or the tip touches down before his next foot placement (over-steps), the cane will have to be cut down or a new, longer cane is prescribed, accordingly. Therefore, it is recommended that the specialist measure the cane slightly longer than initially indicated because it is easier to cut more off the cane than to add more onto it!

5.2.4 Assembling the Cane

Most canes can be ordered directly from the manufacturers preassembled. However, there still are some canes in some schools or agencies that are purchased unassembled. While this is a rare occurrence today, it is still important to understand how to assemble these canes, as described below. Such canes have a long aluminum shaft (of varying lengths), a golf putter grip, a tip, and two strips of white and red reflective tape. Long cane assembly is described in the following steps.

(a) Assembling the Cane Tip

• To install the tip, the specialist first determines if the tip is to be placed over the shaft or into the shaft
• .
• If the tip is to be placed over the shaft, the specialist eases the tip onto the shaft by hand and gently taps it on the ground until the tip is straight and sits firmly on the end of the shaft.

Tips that are inserted into the shaft have a piece of rubber slipped into a slit in the thin end that is inserted into the shaft. It is important to leave this rubber in the slit because it allows for the expansion and contraction of the tip in various temperatures and thus helps to keep the tip securely in place. This type of tip is installed as follows:

• The specialist inserts the tip into the shaft as far as possible, then turns the cane over and lightly taps the tip on the ground until the tip is seated firmly in place.

(b) Adding the Reflective Strips

The reflective strips are applied in the following manner:

• The red strip is applied first.
  The specialist cuts a five-inch strip of red tape from a roll of reflective tape (3M Scotch lite tape has been found to work well).
• With the cane held in one hand by the grip and the tip facing up and away from her, the specialist rubs the shaft with a cloth or paper towel to induce heat on the spot where the strip is to be applied.
• After the specialist feels a buildup of heat, she places the cane on a table with the flat side of the grip facing up and the tip to her right. She then removes the backing of the strip and carefully places the strip lengthwise along the shaft with one edge centered lengthwise on the center of the shaft and one edge almost touching the end of the cane tip. (If the grip has been placed properly, there is a thin white line that runs down the middle of the flat edge of the grip that can be used to determine the center of the shaft when applying the strip of reflective tape.)
• The specialist then picks up the cane by the grip with one hand and uses the other hand to press the strip onto the shaft. She uses the towel to press against the strip that is attached to the shaft and rubs up and down the strip on the shaft while slowly rotating the cane. She is careful not to let the strip fold or bubble because it is not possible to pull the strip off once it adheres to the cane. Once the strip has been rubbed in place, the seam is not visible when the student is grasping the cane with the crook facing down toward the ground.
• The white strip is then applied similarly: It is cut to extend along the shaft from the edge of the red strip to just before the end of the grip. Because of its length, the white strip is more difficult to apply. Care must be taken to align its edge properly and evenly lengthwise and to rub it on evenly with the towel. If the white strip is applied correctly, its seam will be aligned with the red strip's seam so that one long seam will be apparent from the underside of the cane and will not be seen when viewed from any of the other sides when the cane is in use.

After both strips are applied properly, the cane appears to be coated with the red and white colors and none of the aluminum is visible. The cane is now fully assembled.

5.2.5 Storing the Long Cane

The rigid cane can be propped up against a wall or laid on the floor, flat up against and parallel to a wall. If the cane has a crook or elastic loop, it can be hooked onto the top edge of an open door or on a coat hook, hat rack, or hanger rod. In all cases, the student must find locations that do not interfere with traffic, are safe to traverse without the Cane and can be easily found when the cane is needed.

5.2.6 Collapsible or Folding Long Canes

Today, many types of collapsible canes are on the market. Many come in four or five sections with one or two elastic cords connecting the sections to the tip at one end, and to the grip at the other end. Grips are metal or rubber, and tips are either metal or nylon. Some tips have roller balls. Many folding canes have an elastic cord on the grip end that is used to bind the canes when folded. Some canes are manufactured with the natural aluminum shaft or graphite sections exposed, while others have the standard white and red coatings already applied or baked onto them. Generally, many of the folding canes are well made, and thus students should choose the ones they prefer. Some people prefer canes that fold up as small as possible and, therefore, pick ones that have five small sections rather than those with four larger sections. Some persons prefer canes that break apart easily at the joints, so they choose canes with Teflon dike coatings at the joints. Others prefer sturdy and rigid-type canes and will choose canes with thick or double elastic cords.

Although, some students prefer to use collapsible canes as their primary mobility device because such canes are easily stored, they should be aware that each joint in the cane decreases the canes receptivity and, on hand, the user’s sensitivity; that is, Wayne gains with convenience, one loses in sensitivity However, students should consider carrying a collapsible cane with them for emergencies when the primary cane is broken and a backup cane is needed.

Students need to learn to keep collapsible canes in an extended, full-length position when storing them to avoid causing undo stress on the cords. They also should learn not to place their wrists through the cord loops when using the canes to avoid serious injury if the cane gets stuck in a moving vehicle or they trip and fall. (For a list of cane manufacturers, see Appendix A.)