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<mailto:enrique.mejia at blind.state.ia.us> Phone: 515-443-3038 Visit us: www.blind.iowa.gov<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.blind.iowa.gov&c=E,1,JoL3fXjg2HTi2Hl-J3_QXmE-fe-zEuJEMEX7xgxtD28B4dW9mjmxYCttNMViZSc4x5qZ8yYo_1nVZNzXIlOVDi2bXoGoI3rDf-9ZHPAvrI8NPRjvNw,,&typo=1> "A proud partner in the American Job Center network" This electronic communication (including any attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. ?? 2510 - 2521, is confidential and is intended solely for the use of the individuals or entities to whom the email is addressed. If you receive this email in error, any review, use, dissemination, distribution, copying, or storing of the email or its attachments is prohibited. Notify me immediately of the error by return email, and delete this message from your system.
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 <enrique.mejia at blind.state.ia.us> 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<mailto:enrique.mejia at blind.state.ia.us> Phone: 515-443-3038 Visit us: www.blind.iowa.gov<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.blind.iowa.gov&c=E,1,JoL3fXjg2HTi2Hl-J3_QXmE-fe-zEuJEMEX7xgxtD28B4dW9mjmxYCttNMViZSc4x5qZ8yYo_1nVZNzXIlOVDi2bXoGoI3rDf-9ZHPAvrI8NPRjvNw,,&typo=1> ?A proud partner in the American Job Center network? This electronic communication (including any attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. ?? 2510 - 2521, is confidential and is intended solely for the use of the individuals or entities to whom the email is addressed. If you receive this email in error, any review, use, dissemination, distribution, copying, or storing of the email or its attachments is prohibited. Notify me immediately of the error by return email, and delete this message from your system.
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 <yadiel.sotomayor at gmail.com> 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 <enrique.mejia at blind.state.ia.us> 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
?A proud partner in the American Job Center network?
This electronic communication (including any attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. ?? 2510 - 2521, is confidential and is intended solely for the use of the individuals or entities to whom the email is addressed. If you receive this email in error, any review, use, dissemination, distribution, copying, or storing of the email or its attachments is prohibited. Notify me immediately of the error by return email, and delete this message from your system.
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Hi Enrique, I wouldn?t say I have experienced the rolling ball tip to be a better collector of feedback when using constant contact for deafblind travelers. What I have observed is when using constant contact exclusively, a lot of my students, deafblind or not, become more heavy handed with their cane technique. Regardless of a metal tip or rolling of any kind, this will cause more friction and belly poking. If your tip is constantly getting hung up on things, the feedback isn?t as clear. The sticking problem for some is solved by a roller tip. The ball ones go over a lot of uneven textures like dirt and gravel, but you can?t feel much else. The marshmallow rolling tip is at least less likely to roll over things like drop-offs I suspect because there is less momentum than the heavier ball ones. With all that said, I find a fair number of deafblind travelers love the vibrating fiberglass cane with the metal tip, so you?ll have to play around and see what works for them. I?ve had the most luck with tap slide with deafblind overall as they learn to drag longer but lift just enough to avoid becoming very heavy handed cane users. As Jane mentioned, a little bit of glue and creativity with a rolling tip can work. I?ve also gone the graphite cane with those that break the fiberglass canes routinely, often because they want the rolling tip. These can be switched to a metal tip sleeve, but the tips don?t stay on nearly as well as the screws found in the fiberglass ones. Graphite still has some tactile sensitivity and can be a good compromise from fiberglass. I?ve also worked with folks who have such poor feeling in their hands they actually don?t feel the lighter canes at all. This is really problematic for snow travel as you already have piles of fluffy stuff to push through. If the person were also deafblind, they are already at a loss of sensory information, so whatever cane you can get them to use to utilize tactile feedback is the goal. Good luck! Jennifer Kennedy From: NOMC <nomc-bounces at lists.nbpcb.org> On Behalf Of Enrique Mejia Sent: Friday, May 24, 2019 10:02 AM 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 <mailto:enrique.mejia at blind.state.ia.us> Email: enrique.mejia at blind.state.ia.us Phone: 515-443-3038 Visit us: <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.blind.iowa.gov&c=E, 1,JoL3fXjg2HTi2Hl-J3_QXmE-fe-zEuJEMEX7xgxtD28B4dW9mjmxYCttNMViZSc4x5qZ8yYo_1 nVZNzXIlOVDi2bXoGoI3rDf-9ZHPAvrI8NPRjvNw,,&typo=1> www.blind.iowa.gov ?A proud partner in the American Job Center network? This electronic communication (including any attachments) is covered by the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. ?? 2510 - 2521, is confidential and is intended solely for the use of the individuals or entities to whom the email is addressed. If you receive this email in error, any review, use, dissemination, distribution, copying, or storing of the email or its attachments is prohibited. Notify me immediately of the error by return email, and delete this message from your system.
participants (4)
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Enrique.Mejia＠blind.state.ia.us -
msjenniferkennedy＠gmail.com -
widearc2000＠gmail.com -
yadiel.sotomayor＠gmail.com