Im Sorry If This Is A Dumb Question But How Would Someone Use A White Cane To Locate And Go Down Stairs,

Im sorry if this is a dumb question but how would someone use a white cane to locate and go down stairs, specifically if they are at the top of the stairwell. I'm asking because im the story Im writing a blind character (who is the protagonist btw) has to go downstairs to reunite with his younger sibling but he cant take the elevators because the power is out (and there's a monster chasing after him so that doesnt help) I want to make sure I write this scene accurately, especially since I am sighted and do not use a white cane myself. Thanks in advance and sorry again if this is a dumb question.

Hi! Not a dumb question at all. I will do my best to explain it in writing. Most blind people are perfectly comfortable using stairs if they have cane skills, so I appreciate that you aren’t shying away from having your blind character using them.

Finding the top step is super easy. You just tap or slide the tip of your cane around until you find the place where the floor drops off, and then briefly slide the tip of the cane along the edge of the step so you can orient your body to go down the stairs at the right angle and not accidentally go down diagonal or anything like that.

Actually going down the stairs with a white cane is pretty easy as well, because the nice part about using a white cane as opposed to a guide dog or a low vision aid is that the cane can give you an exact idea of the size and depth of the step, so you aren’t left wondering until you actually step down.

The tip of your cane should always be two steps ahead of you. This applies for going up as well as down. So if the character is standing at the top of the steps, he would put his cane down on the step in front of him, which will give him a clear idea of the height and depth of the step, and then put the tip down one more step beyond that. As he steps down, the tip of the cane should move down to the next step beyond that, so every time he steps, the cane is still two steps ahead. He will know he is at the bottom when his cane slides forward on the floor of the landing instead of finding another step dropoff. Having the cane two full steps ahead will give him enough time to slow down when he finds the bottom with his cane so he doesn’t try to step down again onto flat floor.

In case you are also interested in how he could go up the stairs as well, the two-step rule still applies, but it’s slightly different. Every time he takes a step up, he should be tapping his cane against the front of the step two steps up. When he is approaching the top, his cane won’t have another front of a step to tap, so it will just swing out into open air, which is how he will know he is approaching the top and can slow down for the last two steps and not accidentally try to step up again onto empty air.

If he has been using a cane for a long time, this should feel totally natural and shouldn’t slow him down at all. It becomes muscle memory and second nature pretty quickly, so he should be able to get down the stairs as fast as he needs to without incident or worry.

I hope this made sense!

— Mod Lane