[throwaway2037]

This is a great post. Thank you to share. First hand experiences like this are one of the best parts of HN.

This part:

    > If you can find a way to teach your kid good white-cane skills without making them miserable, they'll be grateful to you forever.

Can you go a little deeper on this one? What are some good ways vs bad ways to teach white-cane skills?

Last: A question for myself. Sometimes, when I ride the subway, I see a blind person trying to navigate the station, platform, and train doors. Usually, I hang back a few meters to make sure they are OK. If something goes wrong -- they are a bit misoriented, what is an polite way to break the ice and offer help? (Ignore any language barriers.) I would like to hear what works well for you.

[squigz]

Seconding the other commenter: if you think we need help, just come up and simply ask if we need some help. We'll appreciate the offer, even if we don't really need help.

Maybe a couple of other pieces of advice might be: 1) don't touch them without saying something first (this can be very startling) and 2) don't be patronizing about it

[onemoresoop]

Blind people aren't as thin skinned as you imagine. Simply asking them if they need assistance is okay. They'll tell you if they do.

[miki123211]

re: mobility skills, basically what I wanted to say was "try making them want to learn instead of forcing them to learn."

re: subway, ask whether they need any help, don't be offended if they say no. Don't grab them. Even if you think they're doing something wrong, they may have a very good reason for doing things the way they're doing them.