2022 White Cane Day
White Cane Day is October 15th! This day brings awareness to the use and history of individuals who have gained freedom from using white canes. To get families familiar with white cane…
White Cane Day is October 15th!
This day brings awareness to the use and history of individuals who have gained freedom from using white canes. To get families familiar with white cane day, here are resources to help broaden your understanding of the white cane and what other organizations are doing in honor of this day.
The National Federation of the Blind (NFB) explains how they bring awareness to October 15 here.
Now that that we’ve brought your attention to the white cane, let’s talk about the basics of orientation and mobility at Anchor Center.
Prior to walking, children explore by moving. In order to understand where they are or where objects are in relation to them, children with visual impairments must understand concepts. Look at that document to get a better understanding of concept development.
For an even better explanation on O&M in young children, refer to Mindy Doyle-McCall’s Expanded Core Curriculum book, chapter five, pages 112-132.
Perkins School for the Blind has a great resource on working with children who have dual-sensory loss (deafblind) and a model we believe in at Anchor Center based off Dr. Jan van Dijk’s work on his Child Guided Assessment. Dr. van Dijk “established turn-taking routines that began with imitating the child’s movements, helping the child to gradually notice the outside world and interact with people and items in that new world,” according to his Child-Guided assessment (2016, November 29).
The NFB has an article written about what O&M looks like for young children and babies as well as teaching O&M to students who have multiple disabilities including visual impairments.
Family Connect discusses what parents could do if their child rides a in a wheelchair or stroller.
Additional resources on O&M for students with visual impairments and additional disabilities can be found here.
This is a website dedicated to educating parents on O&M; they have videos that provide great explanations, too.
Elise Darrow, TSVI, O&M, Perkins CVI Endorsement,
Preschool Coordinator