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.

Once the cane is initially fitted and assembled for the student, the specialist shows the student how to use it while walking with a human guide. The student uses the cane with a guide in one of three ways:

• He learns to keep the cane out of the way during the human guide procedures.
• He learns to use the cane diagonally after he learns the diagonal cane skills, as described later in this chapter.
• He learns to use the cane while using the two-point-touch long cane technique, described in Chapter 6.

The latter two ways are learned after the respective cane skills are thoroughly understood.

The initial lessons on using the cane with human guide skills are accomplished with the cane held out of the way, or in the "not-in-use” position. The following sections describe how this is accomplished during the various human guide procedures.

5.3.1 Basic Human Guide Position

In the basic human guide position, the student holds the cane in his free hand with the fingers and thumb wrapped around the grip (or just below the grip on the shaft) slightly in front of him and off to the side. The arm holding the cane is bent at the elbow, and the cane is held vertically to the ground. This is considered the “not-in-use” manner.

5.3.2 Turning and Reversing Directions

When the specialist and student pivot around each other in turning and reversing directions, the cane is held in a not-in-use manner, as follows (see Figure 5.1):

• To reverse directions using the about-face procedure, the two turn to face each other.
• The student places the cane in the hand that is holding onto the specialist. He places the cane vertically, perpendicular to the ground, and flat against the specialist’s arm, with the cane between the palm (or thumb) and the guiding arm.
• The student finds the specialist’s free arm with the freed hand of the “cane" arm. He lets go of the original arm and grasps the cane in the not-in-use position.
• As he grasps the specialist’s new guiding arm in the basic sighted guide position, they turn to face in the opposite direction.

Figure 5.1 Reversing directions using the about-face procedure while holding a cane and entering an elevator.

5.3.3 Narrow Spaces

The cane is held as described in the basic human guide position.

5.3.4 Transferring Sides

While the O&M specialist and student are transferring sides, the cane is switched to the hand grasping the specialist’s guiding arm, and the student then the freed hand is run across the specialist’s back until it finds the specialist’s other arm; the newly freed hand locates the specialist’s new guiding arm and grasps it while the cane hand lets go of the arm.

5.3.5 Entering Rooms through Closed Doors

As the specialist and student walk through doors together, the student transfers the cane into the hand grasping the specialist’s guiding arm before grasping the door edge, closes the door behind them, and then transfers the cane back into the original cane hand.

5.3.6 On Stairs

When using a handrail on the side of the cane hand, the student places the cane against the specialist's guiding arm while grasping the arm; if the handrail is on the specialist's side or if there is no handrail, the student maintains the not-in-use position (or one of the diagonal cane positions described later in this chapter).

5.3.7 Sitting

When the student takes a seat, the cane is placed underneath a couch or chair, so it is out of the way of other persons who may be seated or walking nearby. The student places one or both feet on the cane to ensure that it is not inadvertently kicked away from him. As an alternative, the student places the cane diagonally on the ground with the shaft in between his legs and the tip between his feet and rests the grip up against one shoulder (or vertically on the ground). He holds onto the shaft with one or both hands. When seating himself at a table, the student places the cane in the hand holding onto the table, so when he pulls out the chair, his other hand is free to clear the chair of objects before sitting down,

5.3.8 Hines Break

Accomplishing the Hines break procedure while holding a cane takes some practice for the student to feel confident in accomplishing the task gracefully:

• If someone attempts to grab the student by the arm of the cane hand, the student quickly transfers the cane into the other hand. If there is an elastic cord, he lets it slip between his thumb and first finger and lets the cane dangle. If there is no cord, he grasps the cane grip between his thumb and palm so that his fingers can grasp the individual’s wrist,
• He lets the cane hang while he initiates the Hines break procedure and grasps the person’s wrist with the new cane hand to break the individual’s grasp. At the same time, he either politely rejects the offer for assistance and disengages himself from the person or accepts the assistance and grasps the individual's arm in the basic human guide position with his newly freed hand,
• If someone grasps the student’s free arm (the one not holding the cane), the student initiates the procedure just described, but without transferring the cane into the other hand.

5.3.9 Auditoriums

When entering an auditorium, the student keeps the cane in the not-in-use position and ensures that it does not come into contact with other persons as he and the guide walk together down the aisle and into the rows.

5.3.10 Cafeterias and Restaurant Serving Lines

When the student is obtaining food in a cafeteria or in similar circumstances, the cane is held under the armpit so that the cane tip projects out from his body in front of him. As an alternative to holding the cane under the armpit when carrying a tray, the student can hook the crook of the cane, if available, on the back of his collar or his shirt, just above the top button. In these ways, the cane is kept out of the way, and he is free to carry his tray with both hands.