Grandpa's White Cane
The Authors' Conversation
Joanna: Where you always visually impaired?
Jim: No. It came on later in life for me. I was diagnosed with glacoma in 2002. At that time I was taking a lot of eye drops. My eyes hurt. Gradually, my vision got worse and I had a lot of eye surgeries. In 2013, I was classified as legally blind.
Joanna: How did you find resources to help you?
Jim: My doctor in Spearfish made the referral for me to go to the Hines Rehabilitation Center in Chicago. I got there, but it was kind of scary for me to get on a jet airplane by myself. It is a magnificent facility. The teaching is all one-on-one. You have six or seven classes each day for your needs. The biggest one that I needed was Orientation and Mobility (O&M). My instructor was certified to teach O&M. We spent two hours each day for six weeks. Quite an experience. The first day my instructor walked me through the hospital and then said, “Take me back.” Wow! I made it, but it was tough. Using the tall white cane gave me confidence and independence.
At the end of the six weeks, my O&M instructor challenged me to go back to Spearfish, my home town, and work with school children because a lot of people do not know what the white cane is all about. If people want to use the white cane and have the joy of using it, they need to consider getting professional help from a certified O&M instructor. It is work to learn about the cane and how to use it. But it is well worth it.
Joanna: How did you accomplish your goal to inform people about the white cane?
Jim: I had just gotten back from the Rehab at Hines, when we decided to call the newspaper to publicize October 15, White Cane Day. The newspaper sent reporter Alex Portal to cover the story. He was new to our community at that time, so we asked him if he illustrated books. He said he thought he could draw pictures for us. He loves to do cartooning. Two years later, Alex became the illustrator for our book.
Staying focused to my goal, I talked to my teacher friends, who were retired. They said if I wanted to speak with school children, they would makt it happen. And they did. As a forester, I wasn't used to writing lesson plans. In order to have an activity during the lesson, I made 14 small canes for the children. I painted wooden dowels white with red on one end and a black handle on the other. They looked like my cane. About half way through our presentation, we divide the class in half. While one group learns about the do's and don/ts for helping blind people, the other half followed me with their white canes. The children were very enthusisastic. They came up with great questions. We have been very well received in the third grade classes.
Joanna: Has the community changed from your yearly presentations?
Jim: Out in the community, we have seen an increase in people being polite to people like me. When children are coming up behind me, they will say passing on your left or right or ringing their bicycle bell. Things like that mean a lot to a person like me. At street crossings, people I don't know, are saying, “Hi Jim, can I help you?” So I know parents are hearing about tall white canes from their children. Knowing what the white cane represents is safety for me and safety for them.
Joanna: When did you write the book?
Jim: After going into the classrooms for two years, Joanna said to me, “You know, there are a lot more schools in the area and we need to go out to talk with them.” That's when we decided we needed to write a book. Then we could talk to children all over the world. Publishing the book later that summer, we approached the local Lions Club and they gave us money for books for the third grade children in Spearfish.
Joanna: What was the hardest part about writing this book?
Jim: In writing the book, we had to revise both words and pictures many times. It had to be accurate for how to hold the tall white cane while sweepting in front of you. And it had to be accurate for how to hold the elbow of the human guide. And how the cane is handled. I wanted all of that to be documented in a way that people who are visually impaired would notice that and say, Hey, this is spoton, and it is. Once I saw the book pages in paperback, I realized the book was too small for me to see, so we made the hardback version so I could read my book.
Joanna: Enjoy the book and please find ways that you, too, may share this book's message.