February 20 - White Cane as ID

Last week I wrote about the importance of taking my white cane with me so that other people would see it and recognize that I am someone with a vision impairment. I wrote that a white cane is a useful tool for identification. This week I was reminded that this doesn’t always work.

Again, I was in a large medical facility and for the umpteenth time was sitting with a young staff person to give my personal health history. When she was done, she looked up and commented, “I see you have a walking stick. Why is that?”

My cane was folded on my lap at the time but I told her that it was a white cane and that I carried it because I was legally blind.

“Oh!” said the young woman. “A white cane? I’ve never heard of that before.”

I am sure that my mouth fell open in surprise. This person was in her mid-twenties and worked in a medical facility and yet had never heard of a white cane. It is an instance like this that reminds me that education about white canes and their significance and purpose still has a way to go.

As I reflected, I remembered coming across the following quote:

In order to educate the blind, one must first educate the sighted.