[Blind-rollers] My Experiences

[Laura Eaves]

 Wow, thanks for sharing your experience -- I am indeed interested in your 
description of using the cane with the manual chair.  Do you perchance 
navigate at all with your feet? (I know if you are an amputee that wouldn't 
be possible with the affected leg, but the other foot would provide a way 
both of feeling the landscape and stearing. That is what I do but it is very 
awkward.  When I am in my house where I know the layout of the rooms, I 
slide forward in the chair so my feet touch the ground and push around and 
feel with my feet.  I share this because it can be useful but i don't 
recommend it as it is so awkward.
Glad you are on the list! Take care.
--le

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Treva Olivero" <treva at olivero.us>
To: "'Blind wheelchair users list'" <blind-rollers at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 6:25 PM
Subject: [Blind-rollers] My Experiences


Hi Everyone!
I'm so excited to be on this list! I just joined yesterday, and I have
learned a lot from all of your experiences. I'm from Richmond Indiana,
which is a small city in the eastern part of the state.

I use a manual chair because I have had very negative experiences with a
power chair.

I am in a wheelchair due to a bone disease and a right leg above the
knee amputation. I am legally blind. I can see objects, but I can't
always tell what they are.

I started using a cane about 5 years ago. Before that, I didn't think it
could be done. When I went to an NFB convention, someone told me how
this can be accomplished. I get a 61 inch cane so it is long enough to
make an arc across the front of my chair. I use both hands to push
myself. I put the cane in my left hand and use my fingers to swing it
back and forth. It takes practice to do this, and it's hard to describe
what I do, but it works for me. I try to get a cane with a pretty skinny
top so that I can hold it while I'm holding onto the handrims of my
chair. Another tactic that I use is to push myself and then make the
arc. The hardest part is going up hills and being inside crowded places.
If I am familiar with the hill/ramp and don't foresee obstacles, I
sometimes need both hands so I hold the cane with my chin and just go.
It takes a lot of creativity.

My experience with the power chair was that I had difficulty getting
through doorways, and I frequently crashed. I also didn't use a cane at
the time, so I didn't always know where the curb cuts were located. I
stopped using the power chair when I got stuck in a pile of snow at an
intersection and could hardly get out. Someone came and helped me, but
my chair just spun in the snow. Now I don't think I'd want a power chair
because I go out with friends a lot and use taxis, which in Richmond are
not lift equipped. I wonder how those of you who use power chairs deal
with the lack of portability.

I was also not successful in using a one arm drive chair when I tried it
out. It was extremely difficult for me to maneuver.

I think it's awful that so many of you have had difficulty getting a
wheelchair due to your blindness. I have never been questioned, even
when I got the power chair.

Treva

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