Today is National White Cane Day, celebrated each year on October 15th, to
highlight the significance of the white cane and its role in helping people who
are blind achieve independence. Each year, The Lighthouse for the Blind, a company based in Seattle with a manufacturing plant in Spokane, holds an event to mark the date. The Lighthouse for the Blind is a private, not-for-profit enterprise providing employment, support, and training opportunities for people who are blind, Deaf-Blind, and blind with other disabilities.
This year for White Can Day they are doing a guided walk through downtown for officials and planners from the City of Spokane and one of SRTC's transportation planners. Not just any walk though- participants will wear vision loss simulators and have to negotiate the many challenges they'll encounter trying to get from point A to point B without the aid of vision.
Throughout the walk there will be stops to experience several accomplishments that the City of Spokane has made in promoting pedestrian safety. At the conclusion of the walk, participants will discuss their experience.
At SRTC we were honored to be invited to take part in this because we feel it will make us better able to plan for the future and the needs of people with disabilities when developing projects. There will be a follow up blog post after the walk with pictures so check back. Should be interesting.
In the meantime, here's more info on White Cane Day.
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