Care and Feeding of the Long White Cane: Instructions in Cane Travel for Blind People by Thomas Bickford

For information on cane travel, Thomas Bickford has written a guide for those who are unsure about how to use a cane. The National Federation of the Blind has published this for free on their website.

From the Author's Introduction:

"This booklet contains the experience and observations I have gained over many years as a cane traveler. My hope is to share these experiences and observations with you. But the booklet cannot go with you to say, "You are doing that right, but you need to do it twenty-five or thirty times, not just two or three times." It cannot say, "Swing your cane farther to the left, but not quite so far to the right." The booklet cannot follow you around the block to say, "Yes, this block really does have four corners, but you were off course when you went around one of the corners, and you didn't recognize it." The booklet cannot tell you at which moment it is safe to cross a street, nor should it try to tell you where particular obstacles are. To become an independent traveler you must, and I believe you can, learn to take care of yourself. The best thing this booklet can do for you is to help you come to the time when you don't need it.

A skilled and knowledgeable teacher might help you learn that combination of skills that make up cane travel, and the process might go faster. Such a teacher could present new challenges at the right time or help review persistent problems. I think of this part of the process as "guided practice," and it was very helpful to me. If you had such a teacher, you might not be reading this booklet, so let's get on with the process."