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Children's Center for Visually Impaired students navigate streets of KC for White Cane Safety Day

Posted at 5:57 PM, Oct 12, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-12 18:57:08-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- On a cloudy White Cane Safety Day, Izzy Colvin is on a mission. 

She and her Children's Center for the Visually Impaired classmates are stepping out in the community to raise awareness of how they’re learning about independence with their white cane.

“They pick up on things so fast,” Orientation and Mobility Specialist Sara Bushland said. “And to see their world open up when you put a cane in their hand or when you give them these beginning skills, and they start to walk more and talk more and just move about their environment and really just enjoy their environment and really just get to enjoy a little bit more of their life.”

They’re walking up and down Main Street, stopping in businesses to hand out awareness cards.

“The more we advocate, the more people know how to help our students who are blind and visually impaired, the more they are familiar so they won't just stand there silently when they see someone walking by,” Bushland said.

While there were a few bumps along the way, it didn’t stop Izzy from letting her community know about the importance of her white cane on Thursday.

“The main message is that our students can be independent,” Bushland said. “A lot of people feel a lot of pity for the blind and visually impaired and they can be self-sufficient in their environment. They can have jobs, they can have families, and they can move about their life the same way you and I can with their cane.”

White Cane Safety Day has been observed in the U.S. for more than 50 years, since 1964.