Srinivasu and all: Contrary to your statement I very much do ask for assistance at conference venues and other places where independent mobility can be a challenge. I then use that information to get myself where I want to go. I synthesize everything I know, hear and experience about a place into a combined mobility strategy. Sometimes it involves independent cane travel, sometimes asking directions and sometimes sighted guide. In a conference or other unfamiliar place it usually involves all three. The strategies I use vary according to what is efficient, cost-effective, or some other factor. Having said that though, when I ask for assistance or utilize a sighted guide I almost always use my white cane as though that person wasn't there. I insist on using sighted guide technique correctly as taking someone's arm allows me to remain physically autonomous and know when there are steps or turns. I never allow someone to grab my arm and will simply refuse to move if they try to do this. Allowing this puts the blind person at a severe disadvantage physically and in a social sense. The sighted guide technique is the way it is for a reason and it is a good reason. I pay attention to the route we take to get somewhere so that I can retrace it later if necessary. As I have said before on this list, where I put my feet is my responsibility and not that of the person walking with me. Therefore, it is my responsibility to use my cane whether or not I have someone walking with me. As I indicated in the recent thread on guide dogs, being independently mobile is more about our internal capacities and confidence and not whether we use a cane or some other strategy. We as blind people have to maintain our personal power in order to remain independent. Once that is compromised then someone else is making decisions for us and the game is over. Often this involves social negotiation as well as negotiating a particular environment. It has to do with who has what information and the personal boundaries we set and observe.
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