16/10/2026
Yesterday was White Cane Awareness Day so I thought I’d share a little bit about my experience as a cane user, particularly on my recent honeymoon where I was without my Guide Dog. 🦮🦯
I am registered Severely Sight Impaired/Legally Blind due to a head injury and have around 20° of my central vision remaining. I also have unilateral profound hearing loss. My cane has red and white stripes to indicate that I am DeafBlind. Being DeafBlind doesn’t necessarily mean having no sight or hearing at all, it’s a big spectrum!
When my Guide Dog is off-duty (or not with me) I don’t usually use my cane as I can generally manage ok using my remaining sight, but it takes a great deal of concentration and is both mentally and physically exhausting so I can’t do it all day.
During my honeymoon I used my wheelchair as much as possible. I don’t get as dizzy when I’m sitting down so the wheelchair allows me to make the best use of my remaining sight. However, some of the places that we visited were simply not accessible in a wheelchair, so I had to walk.
I started off as I normally do, looking at the floor and carefully scanning my environment for obstacles, but found that I was getting quite disoriented and tired as I was doing this for much longer than I normally would. I wasn’t really enjoying myself anymore, so I decided to be brave and use my cane.
I don’t use it very often, and the biggest reason is that I am simply not confident with it. Not because I lack the skills, but because I feel like I’m not ‘blind enough’ or that people will judge me. I don’t feel like that with my Guide Dog because he is there supporting my other disabilities too.
As soon as I embraced my cane on my honeymoon getting around became much easier! Instead of constantly staring at the floor looking out for steps and other hazards, I was able to feel all of this information through my cane, which allowed me to look straight ahead and enjoy some of the beautiful scenery around me.
Now that I’ve realised just how helpful a cane can be, I feel silly for avoiding it for all these years. I am still building my confidence, but do hope to use it a little bit more in situations where it would be helpful to me because that is exactly what it is for and why it was given to me in the first place!
So, don’t be surprised if you see someone with a white cane or guide dog looking at something. We aren’t faking. 93% of blind people have some remaining vision.
