APPROACHES AND TRAINING PROCESSES
How to become a user of the White Electronic Cane?
The Electronic White Cane is useful for people with level 5 or 4 blindness on the WHO scale. This corresponds to total blindness or the perception of lights. For the category 3 which concerns the very low vision, it is case by case, a locomotion instructor trained to the Cannes Blanches Electronic will be able to make you a balance sheet and to tell you if this tool can bring you a help in the daily life. The White Electronic Cane is a tool to go further in autonomy for those who want to move alone. A prior step of autonomy to the white cane or the guide dog is essential. If you are in this case, you can contact the nearest center of your home that you will find in the "contacts" section. If you have difficulties in your approach or if you want more information do not hesitate to contact us. We have an essential principle, equipment and training are free for the user and we strive to follow people in the long term so that they can maintain their entire life the best level of autonomy possible. The material is a loan of indefinite duration. On the other hand we reserve the right to recover the material or to interrupt the formations of persons not making real efforts to improve their autonomy during their formation or their daily use of the material. The White Electronic Cane is by no means an elitist tool of locomotion. We have integrated people with blindness-related disabilities into the training process, who have a great deal of difficulty, and have also achieved very good results in these circumstances, even though the training sessions may have been longer. We adapt to every person who is always special.
The training process for these tools is important, but essential. Some offer miraculous electronic rods without training. At the moment we have only found tools that do not have the ability to detect much and therefore to be beneficial for the movement of the person, have or not have training does not change much to the final result . Any serious tool manufacturer will offer you a real training with individual instructor at least equivalent to what it is necessary to do to have a driving license. For the 20 years that we have existed, we have never seen a counter-example to the necessity of this approach.
The three stages of the course at the White Electronic Cane
Step 1: The interview
This is an interview that lasts about two hours during which the applicant meets a locomotion instructor for a white cane locomotion report and a test of the equipment. The goal is to take stock of its current autonomy and to have an overview of the possibilities of improvements proposed. The instructor of locomotion at the end of this interview will make a balance and will offer training to the White Cane Electronics or preliminary complements of locomotion. The applicant may decide whether or not to follow the training proposals or to allow a reflection period.
Step 2: The training.
The training includes on average 24 hours during which the future beneficiary will be in individual sessions with the trainer of locomotion. The protocol provides for progressive exercises in most of the contexts we encounter on a daily basis. Work indoors as in shopping centers, the corridors of an administrative building, the metro ... Outside: in a quiet street, a crowded street, a street cluttered with street furniture, manage large squares etc.
Training often takes the form of intensive one-week training courses with 12 hours of training followed by a second week three months later. According to the regional centers and the availability of applicants and instructors there are several formulas, substantially equivalent in terms of volume and efficiency. At the end of ten hours of training on average the user starts to use the device alone in his daily life.
Step 3: Follow up.
After 6 to 12 months of use, the beneficiary is invited to meet again with the locomotion instructor to review their use. If all goes well this point will be redone every two years, if there are difficulties, the locomotion instructor will seek a suitable solution. The Tom Thumb is a loan of indefinite duration, which ends only if the person for one reason or another does not use its material anymore correctly. No benefit will ever be billed to the beneficiary. If the device fails, the service