Orientation and mobility skills

The touch technique can help you locate different changes in the floor surface by keeping the cane tip on the ground and letting it slide slightly forward.

This technique can be broken down into seven elements. These are: Grip, hand position, arm position, wrist action, arc width, arc height and step.

1. Firstly, you can hold your long cane in whichever hand is most comfortable for you with a light grip. Keep your index finger extended along the flat side of the handle and hold the cane as if it were resting between the middle finger and thumb and think of it as an extension of your arm.
2. Your hand should be no more than halfway down the handle. This is to prevent your cane from going into your stomach if you make contact with something as you walk.
3. Keep your arm close your side with your cane held in a “handshake” position. Some people find extra support by tucking their elbow into their waist.
4. When travelling, all the motion should come from your wrist in a side-to-side action. The arc that this motion creates should be about three to four inches on each side of your body.
5. If you’re using the ‘Touch 'n Slide’ technique, your cane should be in constant contact with your ground.
6. For the ‘Two-Point Touch’, it should be no more than two to three inches from the ground at the centre of the arc.
7. To keep you protected, it’s important to ‘walk in step’. This means that with each step you take, your long cane should touch down on the opposite side of the leading foot.

If you’re moving around indoors, or just want some extra protection, you may need to use the diagonal technique with your long cane.

1. Start by standing tall, with your head up and your shoulders back. You can use whichever hand is most comfortable, but it is a good idea to get used to using both hands in case you find yourself in a situation where you need a free hand.
2. Place your thumb on the flat part of the long cane handle and push your cane forward.
3. With your hand halfway down the grip, extend the cane 3-4 inches to your side to detect any obstacles.
4. Hold your long cane diagonally across your body with the cane tip either touching the floor or held one to two inches above the floor surface.
5. Extend the tip in front of you as far as possible.
6. Before stepping forward, scan the area around you – move the cane three inches either side of your body to check your pathway.
7. If using the diagonal technique outdoors, ideally your long cane tip should be on the side of the kerb to identify a drop.

Navigating stairs and steps can be a little tricky. Here’s a refresher on how to use your cane to get up and down stairs safely and comfortably.

Going up stairs

1. Use the end of your cane to find the bottom step. Keeping it in contact with the first step, place your foot on the first step.
2. Pop up and scan left to right with your cane to find a handrail, then hold onto this with your free hand.
3. If you need to, once you’ve found the handrail you can swap your cane into your other hand if you need to.
4. Lift your cane to locate the next step, giving you a good idea of the height of each step. Now you can extend your cane out straight in front of you to reach approximately two steps up.
5. Hold your cane under the handle in a pencil grip and continue to move up the stairs. Your cane will swing forward to let you know when you have one step left.
6. Before leaving the stairs and moving forwards, scan your cane from left to right to check your pathway.

Going down stairs or steps

1. Approaching a set of stairs or steps, your cane will drop indicating the first step down.
2. Search for a handrail you can hold onto before placing your cane at your side with your palm facing up and your cane placed lightly in your hand.
3. Let your cane drop down two steps without letting it protrude out to the side. When you are ready, begin walking down the stairs. Remember not to let your cane to protrude out to the side, and when you are ready start to walk down the stairs.
4. Your cane will slide across the ground when you’ve reached the bottom. Don’t forget to scan your cane to check the path before stepping forwards.

Using protective upper and lower body techniques can help you move around safely when you’re looking to locate different objects.

They are most useful when used in a familiar indoor space and can help provide information about the environment you’re navigating. You can combine both of these techniques for maximum protection, using one arm to protect your lower body and the other for your upper body.

Lower body protection

This technique can help you protect the mid-section of your body and can be used with either your left or right arm depending on your preference.

• Start by extending your arm downwards diagonally across your body, stretching it as far as you can to get the most protection. Keep your palm facing towards you, holding it approximately six to eight inches away from your body. It should be roughly below waist height with your fingers curled slightly inwards.
• Don’t rest your arm on your stomach, instead hold your arm away from your body. This space will give you time to react if your arm makes contact with an obstacle with your hand acting as a buffer. The back of your forearm should protect the middle of your body.
• Once you find an obstacle, take time to identify what it is with both hands.

Upper body protection

• To protect your face and the upper part of your torso, place your hand in front of your face with your palm facing outwards.
• You can make sure it’s at the right height by placing the back of your hand on your nose and then extending your arm forwards. If you blow out you should be able to feel your breath on the back of you hand.
• By pointing your fingers at a slight angle, your forearm should act as a buffer.

Practicing the trailing technique can help you feel more confident getting around hallways and rooms safely. It can help you keep a straight line and understand what is around you by keeping in contact with walls, countertops, desks or tables.

1. Start by standing with the side of your body approximately six inches from the wall. Extend your hand about 12 inches in front of you at hip height and angled downward towards the floor.
2. Tuck your thumb into your palm and curl your fingers over your thumb to prevent injury and touch the wall with the back of your hand. Walk forwards keeping your hand in this position.
3. If you make contact with an object, take a moment to identify it. If it’s a doorway, stop and listen and use upper body protection before moving off.

When walking across open spaces, large or small, there a number of useful techniques that can help orient yourself.

Squaring off

• Useful for navigating a large open space, squaring off is when you align your body with an object in the space and use that starting point to walk ahead in a straight line.
• Start with your heels, back and shoulders against a surface – preferably not a door so this isn’t opened while you’re against it – and ideally use upper or lower body protection as you walk.

Taking a line

• If you’ve been trailing and reach an open space like a doorway, it’s time to use the ‘taking a line’ technique.
• When your trailing hand reaches an opening, stop and move your hand back onto the surface. Gently, bring your trailing arm forward. As you walk forwards, extend the palm of your hand to locate the opposite surface.

Barrier technique

• If you’re crossing an open space, the barrier technique can be useful.
• Bring your hands in front of you and place them together with one in front of the other (do not interlock your fingers).
• Extend both arms forward as if you were holding an imaginary beach ball with a slight bend in your elbows. This acts as a buffer if you make contact with a surface or object.

It can be challenging walking into a room you’ve never been in before but there are ways to familiarise yourself with your surroundings.

If you are with other people, ask someone to describe the room’s layout, location within the building and key objects which could act as landmarks.

You can also stand by the handle side of the door (not the hinged side) and give yourself time to take in all the sensory information like sounds, smells, light sources.

Search the perimeter of the area immediately around you by using the trailing technique to explore one side of the room. Once you’ve found the corner, return to the start point by the door.

If you drop something, there are a couple of different techniques you can use to find it.

• To search a small area by hand, stop as soon as you realise you’ve dropped something and listen for any sounds it makes as it lands. Turn in the direction of the sound and make circular motions with your foot to explore the area.
• Once you’ve located it with your foot, squat down and use upper body protection as you bend to pick it up.
• If you can’t find it, try standing up, taking a step forwards and repeating the process.
• You can use your cane if you need to search a larger area. This can create a trip hazard so only do this when nobody else is around.
• Start by squatting or kneeling down and lying your cane flat on the surface you’re searching. It should be central to your body with the tip pointing away from you. Use the top of the grip as a pivot point, keeping it stationary as you slowly pivot the cane in an arc from left to right.

Systematic search patterns can also be used to find dropped items or prove helpful when you’re cleaning and tidying. These help you familiarise yourself with your surroundings and understand what objects are on tables and desks.

The first pattern is the spiral technique where you’ll start with yourself at the centre of the table or surface you want to search.

1. Starting at the perimeter, lightly place both hands on the table or surface in front of you with your palms facing down and fingers cupped. Both hands will keep in contact with the table throughout but keep one hand in the same place as you gently make small circular actions with the other hand.
2. Once you’ve completed this, return to your starting position and repeat with the other hand.
3. Once you’ve completed an initial search with both hands, keep one hand at the starting position and slide the other hand one hand size up to explore the next section of the surface. Keep working in this manner until you’ve found what you’re looking for.

Alternatively, use the grid pattern.

1. Position yourself at the centre of the surface you’re searching and once you’ve searched the perimeter, place both hands flat immediately in front of you with your fingers closed and straight.
2. Slide one hand across the table and return to where you started before repeating the same motion with the other hand.
3. Keep one hand stationary and slide your other hand one hand size up towards the table and repeat your search until you’ve found what you’re looking for.

What are the techniques?

There are two techniques that can be used with the long cane, two-point touch and constant contact. Constant contact is where the cane rolls across the ground within your arc width, keeping in constant contact with the ground whereas two-point touch is where the cane is lifted within the same arc width, just off the ground slightly.

Why are there two techniques?

Two-point touch is for confident, proficient travellers and enables a person to move quickly throughout the environment. It can be found to be a good balance between getting safe feedback through the cane whilst also moving quickly. Constant contact can give people a bit more confidence due to the consistent feedback from the cane, it may be slightly slower method of travel. It is important to learn both, so you can adapt as and when you need, within your environment. For example a person may be using two-point touch to travel a straight path however could switch to constant contact when looking for a landmark, like tactile paving or a kerb.

This is an alternate way of holding the cane diagonally across your body, in a locked position, which can be used to locate a specific landmark that may otherwise be missed by the touch techniques. 
For example a person may use diagonal cane when walking along a corridor looking for a hard to locate landmark that could be missed when scanning with a cane.

Why is it important to hold my cane with a pencil grip going up stairs?

It is important to hold the cane using the pencil grip so that the cane can swing freely to give you the feedback to know when you are ascending and when you have reached the top. You will feel when the cane has reached the top as it will no longer meet the riser and will swing away from you. Always remember to scan with your cane once you have reached the top before continuing.

Why is the technique different to go downstairs?

As there are no risers on the descent, by gently relaxing your arm and resting your cane in the palm of your hand, you are using your cane for the maximum preview. This allows your cane to glide over the stairs and reaching the floor below before you. Always remember to scan with your cane once you have reached the bottom before continuing.

If there is a handrail, can I use it?

Yes, of course. If there is a handrail it would be encouraged to use it as it gives extra support and safety. The cane will need to be used in the opposite hand to the handrail which may mean you need to adapt which hand you usually use with your cane.

This is a technique to use as and when you need it, indoors or outdoors. For example, a person may use upper body protection when walking outdoors with a long cane, approaching overhanging branches. An indoor example could be to protect yourself in the kitchen if you are unsure if a cupboard door has been left open.

Systematic search patterns are a thorough way of searching for a dropped item, to make sure an area has been fully exploring, before moving on.

Trailing can be used to help you walk safely through hallways and rooms, walk in a straight line or to learn more about what is around you.

By squaring off, it ensures you are setting yourself up ready to walk forwards in a straight line. If you do not square off, you run the risk of veering. This is a good time to consider using upper and/or lower body protection whilst walking across an open space.

This means if someone were to open the door, you will be away from the hinge side and therefore won’t be in any danger of being hit by the door.