A Guide To White Canes For Sighted Authors/artists

a guide to white canes for sighted authors/artists

happy white cane safety day everyone!

most people who don’t use white canes themselves tend to not understand how they work, and so, when portraying blind characters who use them, tend to get it very wrong. so, i thought i’d write up a small informative post about white canes, how they’re designed, and how they’re used.

most of these misconceptions seem to be based around the mistake of thinking a white cane and a cane meant for mobility are more similar than they actually are. which makes sense - most people know at least one person who uses a cane for mobility, while relatively few people interact with the blind. so, because they’re both canes, they must be the same, right? the answer: nope.

purpose

mobility canes are meant to provide additional support for people who, for whatever reason, have difficulty walking without more support.

meanwhile, the main purposes of a white cane are to:

detect obstacles

give the user detailed info about the texture of the ground

detect ledges, steps, and curbs

identify them as blind to the people around them

these things and the things mobility canes are meant to do, beyond the incredibly general “Help user get around”, don’t really overlap at all. so of course, they’re different to suit their different uses.

design

first things first: canes for the blind don’t come in any other colors, they’re always white. thus white cane is synonymous with cane for the blind - it is a color meant to identify the user as a person with a vision disability.

one thing about white canes is, because they are not meant to support weight, they don’t need to be particularly strong. it’s not like you could easily grab one and break it, of course, but they simply do not need to be the same kind of solid and sturdy that a mobility cane is.

strength isn’t a priority here. thus, their design is based around convenience instead.

white canes are hollow, making them more lightweight. also, most of them fold up so it’s easier to hold them while sitting down. if i’m on the train or the bus, i typically fold down the top section, and when i’m in class, i fold it up, pull the loop over to hold it together, and keep it by my feet.

[image: a white cane partially folded]

another thing about white canes is that they’re long. generally, they’re meant to reach to around a little bit under your shoulder. for example, im 5'3"/160cm tall, and my cane is 4'5"/132cm long. that’s a huge portion of my height!

[image: a person holding a white cane in an inactive position, while to their left is a person walking white holding a white cane.]

looooooooong

one more thing! tips.

white canes have removable tips, and this is pretty important for several reasons.

the tip of a cane will get VERY dirty. personally, when i get home, i remove the tip before i use my cane indoors; this helps keep dirty and water off my floor!

and because white canes are used by either dragging or tapping them across the ground, the tip wears down. tips can be bought separately, meaning you don’t need to replace your cane entirely every time it’s worn down too much.

and that opens up some possibility for different tips!

A Guide To White Canes For Sighted Authors/artists

[image: white cane tips, from left to right: a standard tip, a teardrop tip, a metal tip, and a roller tip.]

standard tips are the ordinary kind, and come with the cane.

teardrop/marshmallow tips (different names for the same thing) are fatter. the thing is, white canes dragging across the ground will get caught in a LOT of things. listen. when my cane gets stuck in a crack in the sidewalk, the inevitable thing is that it gets jammed into my thigh and a giant bruise forms. because of their shape, marshmallow/teardrop tips get caught less often.

metal tips are very narrow and made of metal. they’ll make a louder sound when tapped, and they last way longer than nylon tips. using them outside is guaranteed to get caught even more frequently than a standard tip, but they’re quite useful in large indoor areas like a mall or a school.

roller tips are basically like a ball - they roll straight over cracks and stuff, and are the least likely to get caught. they’re also the most expensive type to get.

use

there’s several ways to use a white cane.

these two methods are the most common, and both serve the purpose of letting the user know about obstacles in their path and notifying them of curbs and steps. in both cases, the cane is swiped from 2in/5cm out from their shoulder on one side, to 2in/5cm out from the other:

method 1: tap a point on the ground out from one side and to the other repeatedly. this involves lifting the cane off the ground.

method 2: swipe the cane out from one side to the other without lifting it, keeping it in constant contact with the ground.

when standing, typically the user will hold the cane upright to take up less space and decrease the likelihood of tripping someone. so yeah they’re not gonna just keep it out stretched.

end

that’s pretty much it! if you have any questions, feel free to ask, and please tell me if my word choice is unclear/there’s some place that’s too confusing.

all of this information is stuff i learned while being trained to use a cane, as well as my experience using one.

websites where you can get more info about blindness:

National Federation of the Blind

American Foundation for the Blind