We used to do this in Texas but we use the smaller, rolling mushroom tips. I never found any value in the great big giant red balls. There are also larger mushroom tips and mushroom tips that don?t roll at all. Generally, the rolling mushroom is better as Yariel said for neuropathy. I think the main argument to using anything but a metal tip with a deaf blind person is that they don?t benefit from the auditory feedback. This doesn?t mean they can?t benefit from the tactile feedback. If there is no neuropathy, no diabetes, no disability of the hands or feet, and only hearing loss, the metal tip will probably work fine. That said, if your client wants a roller tip, it is better to have a roller tip than no cane at all. Some people just don?t like these metal tips because they like constant contact and don?t seem to have a problems with constant contact that I would have as a traveler. I would probably walk right off of a shallow or concave curb if I use constant contact the way many people do. Mostly I only use it on ice or when trying to find a dirt trail in grass. However, if constant contact is your clients game and they?re not willing to break away from it, you can jury rig a ceramic cane tip onto a fiberglass cane about as well as you can jury rig a roller tip. These tools are not designed to go together and must be forced. I use gorilla glue and PVC pipe. I always advise my client that if one of them breaks you lose the other. I actually have broken a ceramic tip and lost the use of the cane. That is when I discovered that ceramic tips are only to be used with constant contact. I got all excited when I first saw a ceramic tip because it did everything for me that the metal tip did without wearing out as quickly. Really, I?m down to maybe one tip every couple of months. Still, my clients are beginners and continue to go through cane tips. I put one of these on a cane and proceeded to run around town with it just as if it were my cane and that is how I broke the tip. I just tapped the heck out of it. You might want to try to acquire one of each and see how difficult it?s going to be to attach them to the cane. Then advise your client that the ceramic tip is only to be used with constant contact and the roller tip is best to use with constant contact that can be lifted i you might want to try to acquire one of each and see how difficult it?s going to be to attach them to the cane. Then advise your client that the ceramic chip is only to be used with constant contact and the roller tip is best years with constant contact and that breaking the ceramic tip means losing the cane. Roller tips are made out of nylon and tend not to break. They also take forever to wear down and will probably outlast the life of a fiberglass cane. Some people are very defensive about the fiberglass cane and don?t agree to anything should be attached to them which doesn?t already belong. I am in favor of anything that gets my client off the couch, out the door, back to work or conquering the world. If it is a genuine help or if it is a placebo that doesn?t hinder, I am for whatever works. Sent from my iPhone
On May 24, 2019, at 1:55 PM, Yadiel Sotomayor
wrote: I have used roller tips for people with neuropathy, and they seem to work OK. Have not tried it with a deaf blind client though.
Yadiel J Sotomayor
From: NOMC <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> on behalf of Enrique Mejia
Sent: Friday, May 24, 2019 10:01 To: nomc at lists.nbpcb.org Subject: [Nomc] Rolling ball tips Good morning all.
I have heard that the rolling ball cane tips on a straight cane, are better for deaf blind clients as they give more feedback. I have never worked with this or seen this before. Has anyone out there tried it? Is there any logic to this? A client tells me that this is what the Hellen Keller Center is promoting out there.
Enrique Mejia, NOMC Rehabilitation Technology Specialist Iowa Department for the Blind 524 4th Street Des Moines IA 50309 Email: enrique.mejia at blind.state.ia.us Phone: 515-443-3038 Visit us: www.blind.iowa.gov
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