Today is white cane day. A lot of people living with Stargardts can manage very well on a daily basis without a long cane. Of course, there are exceptions who need one, or a guide dog, as everyone’s vision loss is different.
A lot of people with central vision loss do use a signal cane though, which is a short small cane that can be held and doesn’t touch the floor. This is to alert others around them that they are visually impaired (great in busy places) or that they may need help with certain information that they can’t see, i.e when catching a bus or train to find the bus number or train platform and time of departure for example.
I have to be honest, before my diagnosis of Stargardts, I had no clue there were other canes other than the long white cane for mobility, so here is a list of what they all mean: https://www.rnib.org.uk/cane-explained
Also, mobility canes do not have to be white, some people are choosing to have custom canes and why not. We can choose what clothes we wear and what colour they are so why not the cane 💙
#whitecaneday2018
#visionloss
#awareness