I started using a blindness cane (also known as a white cane) full-time during my first semester of college while living on campus. As a student with low vision, using a cane gave me a tremendous amount of freedom and independence, accompanying me everywhere from the dining hall to trips around the DC Metro area. Of course, I also use my blindness cane when I’m at home or work, but the bulk of my orientation and mobility (O&M) training for learning to use a blindness cane effectively has taken place on a college campus, and I’ve been able to practice a lot of valuable cane skills when walking to classes and other buildings multiple times a day. Here are ten things to know about going to college with a blindness cane and important O&M skills to have for college, from the perspective of a cane user with low vision.
Disclaimer
I am not a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), and I strongly recommended working with a COMS from the state department for visual impairment or vocational rehabilitation to determine the appropriate mobility solution for individuals.
Related links
- Services Provided By State Department/State Unit for Visual Impairment
- Vocational Rehabilitation for College Students
Cane tips will need to be replaced more often
When I was giving a campus tour for a middle school student and their teacher of the visually impaired (TVI), their TVI remarked that my cane’s rolling marshmallow tip was in fantastic condition for someone that had been walking everywhere on campus. The TVI asked how I had managed to keep my cane looking so clean, and I told them that I had actually just replaced the tip of my cane earlier in the day.
My Ambutech cane is compatible with hook-on tips, which I order directly from the Ambutech website. I learned how to replace my own cane tips during an O&M lesson and watching videos online in slow motion. The fastest time I ever wore through a cane tip is six weeks, though that was because I had to walk through a lot of construction and uneven terrain throughout surrounding areas. Typically, I would change a cane tip every 4 months or whenever the tip started to wear down/slant to one side.
Another thing to note is that cane tip preferences may change as students spend more time walking outside on campus, compared to the mostly-indoor environment of high school. It helps to try out a few different cane tips to find the perfect fit!
Related links
- Decoding The Tips of Blindness Canes
- Touring Colleges With A Blindness Cane: College O&M
- Places Every Visually Impaired Student Should Visit On College Tours
A few students might ask questions, but answers aren’t required
In my experience, I would get a few curious questions from students at the beginning of the semester about how or why I use a blindness cane, with questions becoming more infrequent after the third week of classes. Some examples of questions that students I don’t know have asked me while walking around campus include:
- Are you blind?
- Does the cane tell you where to go?
- How do you use that?
- If you can see, why do you need that thing?
- Why do you have that?
While people are welcome to ask questions, whether to answer them or not is up to the student- they are under no obligation to be an advocate or answer questions if they don’t want to. Since I speak publicly online about my experience with low vision and have voluntarily chosen to be an advocate, I would answer questions from students as they came up.
Some examples of how I would answer the above questions in one sentence include:
- “I have low vision!”
- “No, I use a GPS for that.”
- “With O&M training!”
- “It keeps me from running into things!”
- Either “So I don’t run into anyone” or “it matches my outfit!”
Related links
- Dealing With Paparazzi/Unwanted Attention: College O&M
- How I Talk About Disability With New Friends
- How I Respond To Children’s Questions/Comments About Low Vision
- How I Respond To Questions/Comments About My Eyes
- How I Respond To Questions/Comments About My Glasses
Get to know navigation services on campus
Students registered with their state unit for visual impairment or vocational rehabilitation can request O&M lessons for navigating their college campus, which are conducted by a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) that is local to the area. O&M lessons may also cover accessing public transportation in the area, though some agencies may have their own COMS that cover public transportation full time.
However, there are several other navigation services on campus that can help with mobility and helping students get from one place to another. These can include:
- Ongoing campus tours for finding classroom buildings, typically offered at the beginning of each semester
- Tours offered by Disability Services that can help students learn different areas of campus
- Paratransit services for getting to class buildings
While these shouldn’t be used every day, campus security escorts can also be a valuable option for students who get lost on campus or that unexpectedly have to walk back to their dorm in the dark by themselves.
Related links
Find a way to store blindness canes so no one trips
Storing a blindness cane on the floor creates a tripping hazard for other students, especially if the cane accidentally gets moved to the other side of the room. Even worse, canes stored on the floor could be stepped on or broken. With my collapsible canes, I would fold them when not in use and place them in my backpack or on a chair. Rigid canes that can’t be collapsed or folded can be hung on the wall or otherwise kept away from walkways- one of my friends would bring a tall empty metal water bottle to class, rest it on the floor, and place their cane inside of it, similar to the PVC cane cubby design used in some classrooms.
Related links
Canes don’t have to go absolutely everywhere
I don’t take my blindness cane with me when I take out the trash or on a few other short trips because it isn’t practical. During my freshman year, I wondered if other students thought it was weird that I used my cane in some places but not others, which would lead to me giving rambling explanations or taking my cane places where I didn’t really need it, but then I realized that most people didn’t notice if I was using my cane or not, and it was up to me to decide when and where I used it.
Related links
- Seven Places I Don’t Take My Blindness Cane
- Dorms and Campus Housing: College O&M
- Tips For Improving Confidence About Using Assistive Technology
Self-Advocacy is still vital
One of my friends said that their favorite part of using a blindness cane in college is the fact that their professors automatically know they read braille and other students offer to help them or guide them around. In my case, I do not use braille and feel uncomfortable when students I don’t know start “helping” me without asking first; in this scenario, the only thing my friend and I have in common is that we both have the same type of cane.
Instead of letting my blindness cane speak for me, I make sure to practice self-advocacy in the classroom by asking for materials in large print or digital formats, and making sure that I can access the information that’s being presented. For students that offer help when I don’t need it, I typically respond with “thank you, but I can do that” or “no, but thanks for offering!”
Related links
- Learning to Self-Advocate
- Eight Things You Need To Know About Your Disability Accommodations
- How To Be An Effective Human Guide For People With Vision Loss
- How To Create A Disability Services File
Have multiple route options when possible
Sidewalk near the student center closed? Construction near the dining hall? It helps to know more than one way to get from one campus building to another, and to practice multiple routes in the first few weeks of classes. Some examples of ways that I learn different routes include:
- Using my phone’s GPS app
- Downloading an ADA map of my college campus and studying it on my own
- Signing up for construction alerts, which provides information on alternate routes
- Going for walks with friends around campus
Related links
- Campus Addresses Every Student Should Know: College O&M
- Using GPS Apps On College Campuses: College O&M
- Navigating Campus Construction: College O&M
Pack a spare cane for college
While I don’t necessarily travel with two blindness canes at all times, I do have a spare cane in my backpack and in my dorm room, and also pack one of the spare canes when I am traveling somewhere. Canes can get broken or damaged, or get something gross on them, like goose droppings. Alternatively, I once turned around freshman year to see someone licking my cane in the dining hall, which in retrospect was probably a dare but still grossed me out.
Along with the spare cane, I also keep a plastic grocery bag in my backpack so that I can collapse the cane without touching it and then put it inside the plastic bag until I have time to inspect the damage or clean it with disinfectant wipes.
Smartphones are helpful, and #BlindPeopleUsePhones
I knew someone who was scared to use their phone on campus because they were worried that other students would be confused or think they weren’t actually blind because they were using a phone. This conversation happened shortly after a viral image circulated questioning whether someone who used a blindness cane could also use a smartphone, and the hashtag #BlindPoepleUsePhones was created to help educate others about low visual and nonvisual accessibility features.
Some of my favorite apps and ways that I use my smartphone to navigate college campuses include:
- GPS apps for walking directions
- Getting information about bus routes and public transportation options
- Using my phone’s camera as a makeshift magnifier or telescope for reading items far away
- Accessing visual interpreting apps like Aira that can provide directions indoors and outdoors
Related links
- Using GPS Apps On College Campuses: College O&M
- How I Learned To Use The City Bus System With Low Vision
- Smartphone Apps For Orientation and Mobility
Using a blindness cane is a personal choice
I was hesitant to use a blindness cane at first because I felt like I wasn’t “blind enough” to warrant using one, even though my cane allows me to travel independently without getting hurt- I wondered if I should wait until my progressive vision condition got “worse”, while not really knowing what “worse” would look like. Many years later, I can say that it doesn’t bother me if someone with “better” low vision than what I have also uses a blindness cane, as long as it works for them.
For students that are considering if they “really” need a cane, I recommend meeting with a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist, Teacher of the Visually Impaired, or a low vision specialist to determine if a blindness cane will be helpful for them. Personally, I have found that my blindness cane has helped to boost my independence as well as my confidence, allowing me to make the most of my college experience on my own terms.
Related links
Other things to know about going to college with a blindness cane
- Make sure that canes are the correct height before leaving for college, especially for students that have a growth spurt. This is one of the questions I ask in the post Five Questions To Ask When Buying A Blindness Cane
- Wondering how to use a blindness cane during inclement weather? Check out Walking In The Rain: College O&M and Walking In The Snow: College O&M
- I have an entire post series dedicated to orientation and mobility strategies for college, which can be found with the Navigating College Campuses Archives
- Want more college posts? Visit the Categories page.
Published July 16, 2019. Updated December 2023