HISTORY FOR THE WHITE CANE
In B.E. 2473 (1930) the Lions Club of lllinois started to encourage blind people to use a white cane
when traveling. The white cane has since become a symbol for identifying a perdon who has
avision problem.
B.Eb 2488 ( 1945 ) is avery important year in the history of orientation and mobility because
it is in that year the orientation and mobility began to be taught to blind people at Valley Forge Hospital
by Dr. Richard Hoover, Who was the Director of the Physical Therapy Center. Dr,Hoover noticed that blind
patients who used short and heavy canes when walking were very clumsy. Therefore, he developed a longer
and lighter white cane and inteoduced correct techniques in using the cane.
At present orientation and mobility courses are widely taught in many institutes around the world.
There are programs in the USA, Australia, England, Indonesia, and India that train Orientation and Mobility Instructors.
In Thailand the first orientation and mobility teachers were sent to other countries to be trained, usually in the
USA, Malaysia and India. In B.E. 2527 (1984) the Christoffel Blindenmission (CBM) of Germany granted funds to the
Division of Special Education, Department of General Education to train the first group of Orientation and mobility
instructors in Thailand. CBM sent Mr. Thomas James Blair, an Austrian consultant to CBM, to conduct this training.
This first course ran from April 9th to August 9th, 1984.
Types of canes:
- Foldable canes
- Rigid canes
- Laser canes - they give an audible feedback when the person using the cane is approaching an obstacle
in his path or if there is a difference between ground surfaces (such as curbs, stairs, etc.)
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