Author's Introduction

Author's Introduction

Future Reflections Winter 1996, Vol. 15 No. 1
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About the Author
Thomas Bickford became blind at the age of seventeen from glaucoma. Mr.
Bickford started using a cane during the summer between high school and
college because his sight was fading past the point of usefulness for
travel. He learned some basic cane techniques from a fellow college
student. After college, he attended the California Orientation Center
for the Blind where, among other things, he took formal instruction in
cane travel and met and joined the National Federation of the Blind.
Mr. Bickford holds his B.A. degree from Occidental College, Los Angeles,
and his M.A. degree from the University of Iowa, Iowa City. For the
past twenty-six years Mr. Bickford has worked for the Library of
Congress, National Library Service for the Blind and Physically
Handicapped in Washington, D.C. He makes his home in suburban Maryland
with his wife and two daughters. Since people ask how much a blind
traveler can see, Mr. Bickford speaks of himself as "very totally
blind."

TO L. Q. "Larry" Lewis.
May he rest in peace
because I walk with confidence.

Author's Introduction
This booklet contains the experience and observations I have gained over
many years as a cane traveler. My hope is to share these experiences
and observations with you. But the booklet cannot go with you to say,
"You are doing that right, but you need to do it twenty-five or thirty
times, not just two or three times." It cannot say, "Swing your cane
farther to the left, but not quite so far to the right." The booklet
cannot follow you around the block to say, "Yes, this block really does
have four corners, but you were off course when you went around one of
the corners, and you didn't recognize it." The booklet cannot tell you
at which moment it is safe to cross a street, nor should it try to tell
you where particular obstacles are. To become an independent traveler
you must, and I believe you can, learn to take care of yourself. The
best thing this booklet can do for you is to help you come to the time
when you don't need it.
A skilled and knowledgeable teacher might help you learn that
combination of skills that make up cane travel, and the process might go
faster. Such a teacher could present new challenges at the right time
or help review persistent problems. I think of this part of the process
as "guided practice," and it was very helpful to me. If you had such a
teacher, you might not be reading this booklet, so let's get on with the
process.
"In avoiding the discomfort of fearful feelings you also eliminate the
opportunity for courageous actions, ... and the emotional maturity such
action develops. If you happen to feel fear, and who doesn't, don't
duck it; use it."
Nancy Mairs. Carnal Acts. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.
"We should use technology only where it's necessary. Throughout my
career in this field there have been flurries of interest in mobility
devices, and I've always felt that the ordinary cane, which is
technologically simple, is, in fact, very sophisticated and sufficient
for the job."
Raymond Kurzweil. Technology Producers Present Their Views: the First
Panel, Remarks by Raymond Kurzweil. The Braille Monitor, January, 1992,
p. 22.
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