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The reason for the hand trailing technique is to help find landmarks, objects, or doorways while traveling next to a surface such as a wall. When your child was young, they probably trailed or cruised the furniture. When they did this, they were perpendicular to the furniture – facing it. Now when they are trailing the walls, they are walking parallel to the walls. To begin, place the back of the hand on the wall with fingers slightly curved to prevent jamming them into door frames or other objects. You can have your child hold a small ball to get the feel of curved fingers. Have your child explore your home – finding door knobs, open spaces, and other fun places in your home. It is also important for your child to be able to use both hands. Have your child practice walking with their left and then right shoulders next to the wall and switch their trailing hand. You can also encourage your child to hold something in the opposite hand. This will be an important skill to learn when carrying a cane. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

The diagonal cane position is one of the first basic cane skills your child will learn. They will usually be taught by first doing it with a guide, then individually by a wall, then independently in open space. The hand grasp can be modified to meet the age and needs of your child. This technique can help your child find doorframes, indents, or perhaps objects on the ground that are in their path. For the grasp, have your child hold the cane securely in the middle of the grip. They can use the index finger grasp or the handshake grasp. The arm is placed in a relaxed position at the side of the body or for older and more advanced children – the elbow is brought forward. The cane is placed in the left hand and positioned diagonally in front of their body with the tip of the cane being at least 1 step length ahead of them. They can also practice using the opposite hand to trail the wall to provide additional information. When walking in open space, they can use the previous trailing hand to now be in the upper body protection position. It is important to practice this skill in each hand to gain proficiency and skill. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

Constant contact is one of the early techniques taught and it allows your child to detect drop offs as well as ensure the area in front of their travel path is clear as they sweep their cane side to side. We often teach this skill to young children who are doing well with the diagonal technique by having them start by a wall. For the arm and hand grasp, students will often hang their arms down by their sides and use a hand shake grasp or the index finger grasp. We try to encourage their arm position to be centered at midline several inches in front of their body. This helps prevent belly pokes when the cane finds a crack. The shoulders and arms should be relaxed. The index finger is placed downward along the side of the grip – usually on the flat side of the cane if their cane has one, and their wrist is cocked upward – this does take time and practice. We have them start sweeping their cane with encouraging phrases such as: “side to side”, “sweep bonk”, “hall to wall”… The wall provides one boundary of the cane arc and on the other side, we can hold a stick or other object so they can feel the opposite boundary. The proper width of the cane arc is approximately 2 inches past each shoulder. This can be practiced between chair legs or a person’s legs that are spread to match the proper arc of the child. The wrist movement has a slight back and forth motion to propel the cane side to side. The index finger is also used to provide some power as it helps push the cane across the body and then relax, as the wrist brings it back. This technique can then be practiced in open space. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

When traveling with your cane, there will be times that you come in contact with an object. At this time, bring your cane up vertically to the object and then starting with upper body protection and then switching the hand to slide down the shaft of the cane until the object is felt and explored. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

There will be times that your child is traveling and you may see a potential danger of them running into something head on. If your child knows upper and lower body protection they can use this in unknown areas or you as a parent can call out a key word or phrase to have them put their arms up for protection. The technique is very simple – they will place an upper arm with palm out in front of their face about 6-8 inches away and the lower arm is down in front of their belly area in the same fashion. Comments such as “arms up” or “protect your face”… can be used for reminders. There is a little rhyme that goes “Protect your face when you’re walking through space” that is also helpful. Many times when they are young they will bring up 1-2 hands in front of them. We will often say the phrase, “High 5 bumpers up” repeatedly as we tap their hand while they move forward through open space. As they grow, the skill is refined. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

We all drop objects so it is important to teach children how to search for things they drop. We can play games with them to localize the sounds of different objects dropping and then have them point to the object, turn towards that location, squat straight down using upper body protection and then with palms down flat on the floor they start searching in a fan shaped pattern to find the item. Starting close by their feet and then moving farther out. Sometimes the little ones loose interest so you might need to tap your foot by the item. Allow them to be as independent as possible and pick up their own cane and objects when dropped. We don’t want the mysterious fairy godmother to keep rescuing them and have things magically appear back in their hands. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

There are many different types of canes and cane tips to help an individual meet their travel needs and provide the most accurate feedback about what their cane tip is contacting. You can discuss the differences and potential benefits with your child’s orientation and mobility instructor. Most canes have 3 main parts – the grip (They may come with or without a flat side for the positioning of the finger), the shaft, and the tip. Some shafts are covered in white and red reflective tape to help identify someone as having a visual impairment as well as to be seen more readily. Canes will become dirty and it will be the individual’s responsibility to take care of their cane. As a parent, you can help your child wipe down their cane with a disinfectant and clean the hairs or debris that may become caught in the tip. If the reflective tape gets real ragged talk to your O&M instructor and they can replace the reflective tape. Have a specific place in your home to store your child’s cane so they know where to store and retrieve it when coming and going from your home. This can be against a wall or in a container. In the home, a cane is not usually used since it is a familiar area and hand trailing is usually sufficient. When out in public locations, find some place out of the way (such as placing it on the floor under a chair or table, standing in a corner, or leaning against a wall) to store the cane. In a vehicle it can be laid at the feet of your child. Your child will usually start with a long rigid cane and later when they are a more seasoned traveler may prefer a folding cane. When unfolding a cane, take care to unfold each section in front of you starting from the tip and working up to the grip. Some kids have unhooked the elastic section and let it “fly” and this can be a danger to themselves, to others, and to objects around them. When they are folding the cane, it should be done directly in front of the individual keeping it vertical to the floor as each section is collapsed and then secured with the elastic cord.

Parallel and perpendicular are terms that your child will use their whole life time. Including it in daily conversation will help reinforce the meaning and allow them to naturally generalize these terms in multiple environments. Parallel is a surface or object is by your side and perpendicular is when the object is in front of you or behind you. We have a little song with hand motions we teach to the children that helps them remember which is which: As they sing this song, they swing their arms back and forth by their sides during parallel and then turn 90 degrees to the left or right and either tap a wall or tap their arms crossed in front of them in Indian style for perpendicular. Song: Parallel, Parallel, Perpendicular By your side, by your side, in front (or back) of you. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

The squaring off technique is used when finding an open space that needs to be crossed. Upon finding an open space, they will sidestep around the corner without changing their initial line of travel. They will place their back and heels to the wall. We remind them to have their “nose and toes pointed where they want to go” - looking and listening to ensure the area is clear. They should use upper body protection with one hand and their cane should be at a diagonal or they can use constant contact while maintaining a straight line of travel until they reach the opposite side. When traveling, the child may need to make a right or left 90 degree turn as in a hallway. Here they would again square off facing the direction they want to go, listen and look to ensure the area is clear, and then cross the open space using upper body protection and keeping their cane in front using the diagonal or constant contact technique. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

We will break this into 2 sections – Ascending or going up stairs and descending or going down stairs: *Ascending: Using constant contact or touch and slide to find the first riser. When toes are touching the first riser, they can use their cane to explore the width of the staircase as well as the height and depth of the stairs. They should also use the handrail if available. The child will then reach their cane out vertically in front of them so the tip is between their toes and their arm is stretched out 1-2 stairs in front of them. For longer canes, you might need to slide the hand grasp down to the bottom of the grip. We encourage them to use a thumb or index finger pointing down the grip where they maintain their hand position as in the diagonal cane position but they “flip their wrist” which puts their cane in a good position to “tip tap” the lip of each stair in front of them as they go up. When they reach the top landing and there is no other stair lip to tap, they just bring their arm down to return to the diagonal cane position to explore and clear the landing. Descending stairs: As they approach stairs, they should use constant contact or touch and slide to locate the first step. They then lock the tip vertically against the stair edge and approach the first step straight on – bringing the toes to the edge and on either side of the cane tip. There is usually railing close by and we encourage them to search with their hand to find it. They can then hold the railing with one hand and clear the area in front of them and explore the depth and width of the stairs. They then place their cane in a diagonal position stretched out in front of them and letting it “float like a ghost” about 2 inches above the stairs as they descend the stairs, keeping their rail hand moving slightly in front of them. When they are close to the last step, the cane will touch the landing and glide forward letting them know there is 1-2 more steps and then they have reached the bottom landing. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

When trying to locate an object or location, it will be helpful to search for the item systematically. When in close proximity, these scanning patterns can be done with the hand but those with low vision can also use these patterns for items that are out of reach using their residual vision or with a monocular. There are 3 basic scanning patterns: With scanning top to bottom, you start at the top portion of the area, the child will scan vertically down, then horizontally across the bottom a short distance, vertically up, then horizontally across the top a short distance. Repeating this pattern until the surface to be searched is covered. Scanning side to side starts on the left then moving horizontally across towards the far right side to be scanned, then vertically down a short distance and then horizontally across going the opposite direction, then vertically down again - continuing the pattern until finished. Zigzag scanning is similar to scanning side to side but moving diagonally short distances down the surface, back and forth rather than vertically dropping straight down, continuing the pattern until finished. These techniques can be applied to cleaning windows, wiping tables or cleaning floors.

Mapping allows you to give a preview of the upcoming travel area to your child to help them better understand the environment by giving them a “preview of the environment”. Maps can be made of simple materials. Those with some vision may be able to use plain paper or dry erase boards and colored markers, or boards with magnets. Those with less vision can use boards to be used with Velcro tactile pieces that can be easily changed when needed. These can be made with inexpensive doormats and dry erase boards or plastic file folders from the dollar stores. The tactile markers can be made of household items that can represent certain landmarks. When creating your maps, keep in mind to keep it simple and use symbols that represent landmarks (which are objects that your child will detect that are constant and unique to the area) or with clues (which are objects, sights, smells, sounds.. that may come and go such as keyboard sounds, flag pole chains, kitchen sounds, air conditioning units, a rug, or smells from popcorn, the laundry area, the bathroom, or the kitchen). You can start by simply having a material where your child can practice identifying sides – top, bottom, left and right, and positional concepts – near, between and compass directions. Making a simple map of your home would also be great – identifying a hallway and a few rooms. Also labeling the direction your home is facing – North, East, South or West. When your child wants to visit a friend down the street, you can make a simple map with the sidewalk and then the number of driveways they will find until they reach their friends home. Previewing the map before walking over will help your child begin to understand more about your neighborhood and how long it takes to travel to different places. Another great application would be to do the layout of a park before you go – labeling the sidewalk, the slide, swings, your picnic table, the bathroom and so on. Once on a specific route or location, have your child find landmarks or clues that they sense that you can add to the map – help them take part in creating their maps. Grocery stores are also good locations to use maps and to help your child locate items on your list. Remember many grocery stores are laid out with the produce, dairy, meat, and cooler units on the outside edges with the canned and boxed goods in the middle. Registers, bathrooms, and the service desk are usually located in the front of the store. Taking the time to show your child where you are and where you are going, will give them the opportunity to be involved in your families travels rather than just following along.

Shorelining is a technique used to find a landmark or particular destination – such as a driveway, pathway up to a home, or an intersecting sidewalk. The child will be walking parallel to a grassline or other surface and sweep or tap their cane back and forth (the cane tip touching down several inches over the shoreline’s edge). We sometimes say cement to grass, cement to grass – looking for the change to cement to cement (or whatever surface they are looking for). They would then make a 90 degree turn and continue on their journey. The student can also use a touch and drag technique along the shoreline.

Compass or cardinal directions are important clues in helping your child maintain their orientation to the world around them – especially when combined with other environmental information and landmarks. Labeling areas of your home such as the west door or the north wall of the kitchen can help your child become familiar with these terms. Using the sun to help determine which direction they are facing will be an important skill for your child. The time of day and time of year will have some effect on the accuracy and you can discuss with your child that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Weather conditions also will vary so asking your child if they feel the warmth of the sun in open space and where on their face will be helpful. Here is how we teach it when the sun it out: cold nose north (like the north pole) righty easty (feeling the sun on the right cheek) sunny south, and lefty westy (feeling the sun on the left cheek). Here is another sayings that will be helpful: Have your child point to the following directions as the say Never Eat Soggy Waffles (the N in Never is for North, E in Eat is for East, S in Soggy is for south and W in Waffles is for West.) You and your child can practice 90 degree turns while facing the different compass directions and helping them know which directions are opposite – doing 180 degree turns. This is how we make 90 degree turns. “Heel to heel, point the toe in the direction you want to go”. This is a 90 degree quarter turn facing east. Two 90 degree turns equal 180 or half a turn. Now they are facing west which is opposite of east.

Helping your child travel in adverse weather conditions will be a skill that will be used for a lifetime. In most areas of the world, it is not 70 degrees and sunny all year. Proper clothing will help your child stay comfortable so they can focus on their O&M skills. Traveling in rain can be a condition that occurs throughout the year. Proper attire should again be used to keep them warm and dry. If an umbrella is used, students will need to learn to hold their cane in one hand while keeping the umbrella in the other – positioning it high above their heads or out of the way when listening to traffic or other auditory sounds to avoid confusion while localizing those sounds. Any additional head coverings should also be removed. Helping your child identify the direction from which the rain is coming will help them position the umbrella between themselves and the oncoming rain. This will also help in windy situations so the umbrella does not get turned inside out. Often car sounds are easier to track as the sound from the wet wheels can travel further distances. Standing perpendicular to the traffic with your child and identifying near and far traffic will help them localize the sounds and understand the distance of the cars and the time it will take for the cars to pass in front of them. Crossing streets in the rain requires your child to increase their attention on their surroundings since they will have to negotiate puddles, water pouring into gutters, and hands getting wet which could decrease their sensitivity to the information received from their canes. Whether there is snow, rain or heat, help your child dress appropriately to keep them comfortable while traveling.

Exploring the neighborhood can be a fun adventure with your child. There may be some common residential features that your child may not have had the chance to observe before. Recognizing these residential features can help your child have a safer and more gratifying traveling experience. Some of these common residential features include: Truncated domes (or legos), utility boxes, sewer drains, a variety of corners (blended curbs with truncated domes, curb cut, corners without curbs), and variety of fences (chain link, wood, metal). Other common features are: Utility pole & guide wire, sidewalk/parkway/gutter/road, path to house, crosswalk, broken sidewalk, fire hydrant, family mailboxes, and a storm drain. There are also signs, Stop, crosswalk, yield, and dead end. There are so many fun things to explore in your neighborhood. You can even turn this activity into an exciting scavenger hunt for you and your child to enjoy together.

As your child begins to learn low traffic crossings such as driveways, crosswalks, and residential corners, it will be helpful to practice getting into ready position. This will be a skill they will use for even more advanced crossings. The child will come to the edge of a curb (or upon finding truncated domes, or when coming to a driveway) they will stop, plant their feet (keeping their nose and toes pointing in the direction they want to go), and place their cane in a diagonal cane position. They will then make an X shaped motion to check for any obstacles, uneven surfaces, puddles or potholes that might be in their path, and then return to the ready position. Next will be to listen and look in all the needed directions to ensure there is no traffic, or that they have an open window to cross safely. Your child can let you know that it is all safe or all clear to go. They will move in a straight line of travel from corner to corner, walking with purpose, and stepping up quickly onto the curb. If your child has a hard time focusing: have them take a deep breath, plant their feet, wiggle their toes, and place their cane at a diagonal to help them feel grounded. When you are with your child making these crossings, place your body in a position that will not block any visual or auditory information from reaching them (usually back and on the inside portion of the sidewalk – away from the traffic). Also, we wanted to mention here that when making a simple street crossing, help your child feel the slight rise and fall that occurs when traveling from ones side of the curb, up and over the combre or crown of the street and then back down to the opposite curb. Some streets have more of a crown then others to help with the drainage of water.

Addresses can many times be found on mailboxes, curbs, next to the front door, or over the garage. Bring along a monocular and have your child locate addresses as you go on walks. Talk about estimating what the next house number might be – the numbers progressively get larger as one moves farther from the dividing lines of a city which in Utah are usually Center Street and Main Street. Often the odd numbers are on one side of the street and even on the other side. Here is a little song to help identify the even numbers if your child is having difficulty remembering them. “0,2,4,6,8 even numbers aren’t they great!” Pairing a known address with landmarks – either tactile or visual will help your child locate unfamiliar destinations. These landmarks will also be helpful when your child is giving someone directions to find your home. An example would be, “when you turn onto 100 East, my home is on the south east side and has a vinyl picket fence in the front.” Inside many business buildings, the number system is also similar with even numbers and odd numbers on opposite sides of the hallway. When you are in a multistory location, have your child feel the raised tactile or braille room numbers.

Creating a map is a great way to help your child become more familiar with their environment. You can help your child make maps of more advanced concepts, such as that of your neighborhood block or of an intersection. As you make these maps together, it is important not to overload them with too many details or tactile markers, as this can be confusing to your child. Residential block: Before going on a walk with your child around the neighborhood, it may be helpful to build a simple map of one residential block. You can discuss with your child common features found in a residential block. (Point on map: sidewalks, corners, houses, etc.) You can add common landmarks: such as mailboxes, utility boxes, or light poles to the map as you explore the block with your child. Using the map, have your child practice simple compass directions: NSEW or more advanced compass directions: NW corner of the block, SE corner of the block. Plus intersection: Another helpful map is that of a basic plus intersection. On the map you can include four residential blocks surrounding the intersection (point to yellow squares) and two roads crossing to create a plus shape. It is important to point out to your child that there are white lines painted in the middle of the road and that cars drive on the right side of the road. These are facts that your child may not have observed before will be helpful for them in understand the flow of traffic. Mapping is a fun and interactive activity, so allow your child to explore by driving cars on the roads or adding stop signs. Again, using these maps is a great way to review compass directions. You can point out to your child that the NW corner of the intersection is also the SE corner of the block. This is a tricky concept, so don’t worry if it takes lots of practice. Have fun exploring the world with your child!

When crossing at lighted intersections, safety is paramount and in no way is this video to replace formal orientation and mobility training. This video is provided to help you and your child practice crossing safely at lighted intersections. 1) Stand with your child at the intersection and listen to the flow of traffic and have them tell you about the traffic patterns – where their parallel traffic is located, the perpendicular traffic, and where the right and left turning cars may be located. 2) Have them identify the traffic surges by pointing their finger towards the moving cars. (the surge is when the traffic begins to move after the light has turned green). The surges will help identify their blocker cars – the cars that will become a barrier between them and left turning vehicles. 3) Have them locate and then press the pedestrian signal. They will align their bodies at the corner, being in ready position, and staying on the side away from the intersection. Make sure you stand behind your child as not to interfere with the sounds they need to hear. They will then get into ready position and listen to the traffic sounds and patterns. Remind your child not to judge when it is safe by just listening to the audible pedestrian signal or by others that may be crossing – those are good clues but they need to judge for themselves. They can move counterclockwise around the intersection, ensuring that there are no right turning vehicles and using their near parallel traffic to be their blocker cars. They could also move clockwise around the intersection, they would then begin their crossing when they hear the surge of their opposite near parallel traffic (always being aware of potential turning vehicles). Moving in a straight line of travel is important and they can scan the lanes visually and auditorily as they move across the intersection – listening for their parallel traffic as well as the sounds of idling cars – making the appropriate adjustments for veering. Walking with purpose is important as well as stepping up on the curb as quickly as possible.

As you move through community areas, there may be some common features that your child may not have had the chance to observe before. Recognizing and exploring these features can help your child have a safer and more enjoyable travel experience. Some of the community features are: Park bench, garbage can, lamp post, flag pole, bike rack, construction cone, large recycling bin, large dumpster, UPS and Mail drop off boxes, and bus stops. Some of the signs in the community are handicapped parking, do not enter, speed limit, one way, no outlet, railroad crossing, railroad crossing with flashing lights, look both ways railroad, TRAX safety signs, pedestrian push button signals, and pedestrian lighted crossing signals.