A white cane is a traditional mobility tool used by many people with low vision or blindness around the world. It can be a vital tool for people with low vision or blindness to navigate public spaces, giving them the ability to get around safely and independently. Typically made from lightweight materials like aluminium or carbon fibre, its white colour is important for a couple of reasons. Not only does it make the cane easy to spot, but it also lets others know that the person using it has a visual impairment, which can help them navigate congested areas more easily.
The cane is swept back and forth in front of the person using it to feel what’s ahead. Whether it’s a curb, a step or any other kind of obstacle, the cane helps them sense changes in the ground, like bumps or gaps, that are well ahead of their next step, making it easier to move through unfamiliar areas. It can also help them identify common features along a route they take every day.
The white cane has always been a symbol of independence, but recent innovations in its design have sought to make it even more effective and easier to use.
While traditional canes continue to help those with low vision or blindness, people continue to try to innovate, with the introduction of smart canes giving people more choice.
Some small additions can make a big difference. Built-in flashlights are especially useful for low-light conditions, while rain-resistant technology has also become more common, protecting smart canes in various weather conditions. But it’s what is inside smart canes where things are getting interesting.
One of the most notable innovations is obstacle detection technology, where canes equipped with sensors can detect objects above waist level, an area that traditional canes can’t reach. Sensors alert the cane’s user through sound or vibrations, with the intensity of the signal increasing as they get closer to the obstacle.
The latest smart canes go even further, integrating artificial intelligence and GPS technology. Some models now pair with an app so people can save and explore locations either through their phone or through the cane. The cane or app alerts them to the distance to their destination, giving them spoken directions via the cane’s speaker. Some people may be fine with this feature, while others might want to avoid drawing attention to themselves with a device that makes audible announcements.
But what if you could have a conversation with your cane Smart canes can now feature Large Language Models (LLMs) connectivity, such as ChatGPT. This allows people to ask the cane questions and interact with it as they would with a smartphone, helping them do more than just navigate and explore spaces.
Of course, this type of tech isn’t for everyone.
One of the most important original features of the traditional cane is its provision of haptic feedback, or in other words the vibrations that the tactile feedback provides between the tip and surfaces. Some people prefer this organic interaction and a lightweight cane, rather than relying too heavily on electronic devices like obstacle detection.
It’s also important to consider the typically short life of a traditional white cane. Being such a tactile instrument, white canes experience wear and tear and require replacement. The risk of investing in smart cane technology might come down to needing to replace it too soon, so it’s important to consider how replaceable different elements of the cane might be.
Any changes to the weight of a white cane put off many people, as over time this can add significant stress to wrist joints and fingers.
But the materials used in modern white canes have seen significant advancements. Today, manufacturers are using lightweight and adjustable materials such as carbon fibre and titanium, making the canes both sturdier and more comfortable, while some of the leaders in smart cane technology continue to improve the weight and handle design of their canes.
Perhaps the most simple but helpful advance in white cane technology is the breadth of choice people have in their tip design.
The type of white cane tip people opt for varies a lot. To avoid their tip getting caught on an object, which can be jarring and even painful, some opt for a rotating ball tip. Other tips are designed for outdoor use in bushland or grassland, while others are designed to optimise the auditory aspect of using a white cane.
Some tips can make the white cane heavier, which can impact wrist and arm movement. It’s important to choose a white cane tip based on how you want to use it, but also consider how it will impact the weight of the cane.
There are other helpful devices you can use to detect objects, especially when you’re in a familiar environment like the office and you don’t want to use your cane.
One of the most common examples is the Miniguide. These are lightweight, handheld devices that can help people navigate their immediate environment, such as doorways, parked cars, and overhanging branches. This is similar to the technology that has been introduced into smart white canes, but you can keep it in your pocket when you’re not using it!
The Orientation and Mobility service offered by Guide Dogs helps people with low vision or blindness learn how to move around safely and independently by using any remaining functional vision and other senses along with appropriate aides like mobility canes.
Orientation and Mobility Specialists work with individuals and their support people to teach many skills, including the ones necessary for making the most of a mobility cane. They work closely with individuals to teach them how to use white canes effectively, helping them adapt to different tip types and understand how to incorporate technology into their daily routines.
A supportive family – from immediate carers through to other family members – can play an important role in the practical and emotional wellbeing of someone living with low vision or blindness.
If someone in your family has been diagnosed with low vision or blindness, there is support available to you so you can maintain your own emotional wellbeing and continue to help your loved ones navigate their own journey with low vision or blindness. Guide Dogs works closely with family members through a range of services so they’re equipped to be carers and supporters of their loved ones.
‘Low vision’ is a term used to describe a range of conditions that affect sight, with many conditions varying in nature and severity across a spectrum. It includes conditions such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and retinitis pigmentosa. You can learn more about low vision and check out helpful articles on our ‘About Low Vision’ page.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, approximately 13 million Australians have one or more chronic eye conditions. 7.2 million of these live with hyperopia (long-sightedness) and 6.3 million with myopia (short-sightedness). 131,000 live with complete or partial blindness.
Because vision conditions are so varied in nature and severity, the role of family in supporting someone with low vision is equally as diverse. Some family members might take on a regular caring role whilst others might be relied upon for irregular or just emotional support.
One of the most common concerns from family members caring for someone with low vision or blindness revolves around guiding them through a built environment. Here are some tips for helping your loved one navigate public spaces.
Other practical areas you can provide support with include the techniques mentioned below.
Begin by decluttering pathways – removing objects like cords, loose rugs or unnecessary furniture that might pose a tripping risk – and then setting up designated locations for items that the person with low vision frequently uses, allowing them to access these themselves.
Guide Dogs provides Orientation and Mobility Skills services to support you in this process. You can help your loved one maintain a consistent layout in the home so that they can confidently navigate the space without unexpected obstacles. Guide Dogs can also advise on tactile markers, such as raised stickers, textured surfaces, or Braille labels through the home.
Orientation and Mobility Skills training is invaluable, but you can play an important role to encourage your loved one and accompany them when getting around in public spaces so they can feel confident and develop independence.
Start by acquiring and helping to configure assistive devices such as screen readers and/or magnifiers. Voice-controlled smart home gadgets, like Amazon Alexa or Google Home, can also simplify everyday tasks and enhance accessibility. Guide Dogs can support you and your loved on in configuring devices and providing training for those with low vision or blindness to use various assistive technologies.
Connecting with professional support services can significantly enhance the quality of life for someone with blindness. Begin by researching healthcare services, such as low-vision specialists, occupational therapists, or counsellors who focus on vision impairment. Organizations like Guide Dogs Australia offer invaluable mobility and orientation training. Look into government and nonprofit programs, such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), to access financial aid, assistive devices, or home modifications. Peer support groups, whether local or online, can provide emotional connection and shared experiences.
Receiving a diagnosis of low vision or blindness often brings with it emotional challenges for both the people receiving that diagnosis and their family members.
Psychology and counselling services can play a vital role in helping those living with low vision or blindness as well as their families, but carers and family members can also support their loved one’s emotional wellbeing simply by being present, encouraging them to express their feelings, and exploring ways to support their independence – from helping organise assistive technologies and accompanying them to appointments through to finding community, hobby and peer groups they might like.
It’s important to remember to look after your own emotional wellbeing. Guide Dogs services – from psychology and counselling through to peer groups and funding support – can help take pressure off immediate family and carers and provide important guidance on everything from assistive technology to accessing the NDIS.
Remember that you have your own journey with a loved one living with low vision or blindness, and to be aware of how you are coping. Seeking help if you need it and managing your own emotional health can help you continue providing support.
Whatever your age—and whether you’ve experienced low vision or blindness your entire life, or recently had a change in vision—Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training can support you with valuable skills to improve your independence.
All Orientation and Mobility Training programs are uniquely tailored to your personal needs, goals, situation, and preferences.
With that said, there are some common ways that the training can be adapted to meet the requirements of people at different ages. That includes:
In this article, we’ll describe some of the common skills you can learn in Orientation and Mobility Training, and provide some examples of how training can be modified to meet the needs of people at different stages of life.
Orientation and Mobility training for children—which is also commonly called Children’s Mobility training—can adapt to support your child throughout their entire school life, from kindergarten and pre-school through to Year 12 and early adulthood. For children younger than school age, there is a separate support program called Early Childhood Vision Services.
Children’s Mobility training supports young people and children to move through the world with confidence. We know that kids can grow and change quickly, so Children’s Mobility training progressively evolves alongside your child’s needs by introducing different skills and mobility aids as they become relevant in daily life.
Training is usually offered with a specialised Orientation and Mobility instructor. Training sessions complete in a one-on-one format, wherever your child is most comfortable. That might change depending on your child’s goals, but we commonly deliver training:
It’s all about supporting your child to safely explore the world and navigate their daily routine with greater independence.
There are many, many different skills that children learn in training. Again, it depends on your child’s personal situation and unique goals. Some common skills include:
Preparing for teenage years: this includes traffic concepts, road safety, and how to independently use public transport to get to school or catch up with friends.
Training can be valuable for anyone, at any age or stage of life. Even if you have lived with low vision or blindness for a long time, it can be helpful to refresh your skills or learn new mobility techniques to find your way through the world with confidence. Additionally, we can always provide support if you’ve completed an O&M training program and your goals have changed,
Many aspects of Orientation and Mobility training for adults and older people are flexible based on your wants or needs. For example, training can range from one single session to several weeks of intensive classes. The location of your training will also depend on the specific types of skills you’d like to learn.
There’s always something new and useful you can learn in O&M training. We personalise each training program based on your unique goals.
Some of the specific skills you can learn include things like:
O&M training can be adapted for older people to accommodate considerations that relate to age-based changes in physical ability, cognition, and sensory functions.
Some of the ways that Orientation and Mobility training can be adapted for older people include:
Whether you’re looking for details for yourself, a loved one, or you’re a medical professional hoping to make a referral, you’ll find more information on the right service for you below:
Through safe play and by exploring new environments with confidence, we learn about ourselves, each other, and how to be part of a community.
Children with low vision or blindness are no different. However, they need to develop a different set of skills to understand and move through the world. These skills are taught in Children’s Mobility training.
In this article we’ll look at some of the valuable techniques a child can learn during this training. We’ll also consider how the training changes and can be built upon as the recipient moves into their teenage years.
Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of every possible kind of training provided to children and teenagers. The right training for you or your child will depend on their specific needs and circumstances.
Mobility training helps a child build on their personal goals as they transition from home to kinder to school. It can include skills to make new friends and interact with other people in their community.
More specifically, it can include:
Children’s Mobility training teaches your child valuable practical skills while encouraging them to make friends, be creative, and explore their potential. Importantly all Children’s Mobility training offered by Guide Dogs is delivered with a focus on fun.
Support is usually provided one-one-one in an environment where your child is most comfortable; that location will also usually depend on their goals. It could be in your home, at school, or out and about in the general community.
Guide Dogs offers Children’s Mobility training as part of individual programs, camps, group programs, and workshops.
Orientation and Mobility training for teenagers differs from the training mentioned above, which is specific to children under the age of 13.
Teenagers tend to be eager to have more responsibility and set their own goals; they also often like to develop plans for achieving those goals. An Orientation and Mobility Specialist will support a teenager by building on the foundational skills learnt as a child.
Training specific to teenagers includes:
Our Orientation and Mobility Services can support you or your child to get where you want to go with more confidence, ease, and safety.
Orientation and Mobility (often shortened to O&M) is a term that covers the concepts, skills and techniques that help people to travel safely and efficiently. In this article, we’ll concentrate on the skills that people with low vision and blindness can employ to navigate all sorts of different environments under all sorts of different conditions.
Before we get on with our list, we should note that O&M skills will vary depending on the individual and their specific needs and abilities. When determining the best approach for developing and using these skills, it’s important consult with a qualified O&M specialist.
This skill involves understanding the layout of (for example) a building, including the location of doors, stairs, lifts, and bathrooms. Training to help you develop such skills might focus on spatial awareness, environmental scanning, and even problem-solving.
Wayfinding is knowing how to follow a set route, make turns, and locate specific destinations within any environment – indoors or outdoors.
There are many ways a person can improve their wayfinding skills; they include assessing the environment; planning a route using landmarks, using auditory cues; and memorisation (again including landmarks and cues).
Route planning training might take into account changes in terrain, obstacles, and numerous other factors.
Street crossing is a broad skill that includes several sub-skills, such as identifying the sounds of approaching vehicles and determining the appropriate time to cross.
Training for street crossing might involve understanding traffic patterns, identifying safe crossing points, and practising in different environments and under different conditions.
This skills includes understanding how to use public buses, trains, and trams, as well as knowing how to identify and locate stops and stations. Training in this skill might include planning routes, assessing timetables, using visual aids and auditory cues, and dealing with unexpected situations.
Knowing how to use a long cane – also known as a white cane – is useful for many people, including those with low vision and total blindness. Learning to use a cane takes practice and patience, and training might involve learning how to hold the cane correctly, how to use it to detect obstacles, and how to interpret the feedback provided by the cane.
An O&M Specialist might also help you to detect obstacles, determine changes in terrain, and identify doorways and other openings.
Obstacle avoidance is being able to identify and avoid obstacles in the environment, such as furniture, walls, and other objects. Training may involve use of a long cane or a Guide Dog, but can also include using auditory cues to detect obstacles (especially at head or upper body level).
This skill includes understanding the relationships between objects and the environment, including how objects are positioned in space and how they relate to one another. Spatial awareness is closely linked with several of the skills we’ve already mentioned, including obstacle avoidance, orientation to environment, and wayfinding.
Understanding what to do in case of an emergency, including how to evacuate a building and how to call for help, is a crucial skill for anyone.
For people with low vision or blindness, training in this area is tailored and specific, but the objectives are the same as they would be for anyone else. That includes identifying emergency exits and escape routes, learning evacuation techniques, and communicating with emergency personnel.
Our Orientation and Mobility Services can support you to get where you want to go with more confidence, ease, and safety.
The long cane/white cane is a primary mobility aid that can increase the independence of a person who is blind or has low vision. It can be used by adults and children. The white can may also be known as a mobility cane.
Using a long cane has many functions including:
As with any skill, specialised training is required to use the long cane safely and effectively. Training to use the white cane will be with an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialist. They will not only introduce the skills required to use the cane, but will also focus on teaching relevant orientation skills and safe routes of travel.
There are two main types of long cane: the rigid cane and the folding cane. The choice usually comes down to personal preference, with many preferring the folding cane for ease of storage.
There is also an ID cane and a support cane, both of which have different purposes for use.
The material canes are made from also varies. The standard cane is made from aluminium. However fibreglass, graphite, and carbon fibre canes are also available. Learn more about different cane types in our article on common kinds
There are several factors to consider when choosing the right long cane for low vision, including:
Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialists are qualified to recommend which long cane is best suited to each individual.
