Sidewalk travel is very intimidating to some students yet no big deal to others. Before an instructor starts a lesson on block travel, he should make sure the student is able to detect and react to drop-offs on either side of the chair and to the front of the chair. Students should also have experience in navigating tight spaces. To travel on a sidewalk, students must navigate around people, posts, mailboxes, and numerous other obstacles. Nervousness, changes in lighting, glare, and other factors may cause the student to struggle when lessons begin outdoors. People tend to forget the skills they learned indoors when they move outdoors. If the student struggles with a particular task, simulating the problem indoors may help her generalize the skills from indoors to outdoors. Students often struggle to maintain their cane skills when they move outdoors. Before the block travel lesson begins, it is beneficial to review different cane techniques on outdoor walkways or driveways that are away from the street and traffic noise. Students who use auditory skills indoors to keep from hitting the walls may have a harder time maintaining their line of travel on sidewalks.
Travel Cautions
When students transition to outdoors, many change the speed at which they travel. Fearless travelers may increase their speed to the point that they are no longer able to use their cane to preview their path adequately. To prevent injury, always position the cane to the side of the chair instead of the center. Some students may need to reduce their traveling speed. Often, the student does not realize the potential dangers outdoors that were not present in familiar indoor environments. When the student travels in areas with consistent pedestrian traffic, encourage her to match the pace of the pedestrian flow. Instruct the student to avoid weaving around pedestrians and to slow down when she detects intersections. The instructor should determine if the student hears the end of the building line, which may indicate the need to slow down for an approaching intersection. The detection of a large tree may indicate an unlevel sidewalk because of tree roots lifting the sidewalk.
Hills, cracks, and travel distances require some people who use manual chairs indoors to switch to power chairs for outdoor travel. Sometimes the student’s doctor or physical therapist does not want to recommend a power chair. Medical professionals often think in terms of getting from the house to the car; they do not think about getting from the house to the bus stop, which may be farther away than the student can physically manage to travel. It can be very demanding physically to travel more than a block or two in a manual wheelchair. Invite the medical professional to a lesson or provide him with a full-length video of the student on the route. This helps the medical professional to understand the physical demands of outdoor travel. If the student is dependent on the long cane for detecting edges and drop-offs, the amount of time it takes to go just a few blocks in a manual chair may be restrictive. If this is the case, the student should seriously consider switching to a power chair.
Visual travelers should receive instruction at different times of the day and under different weather conditions. Students who travel visually during optimum lighting periods may have problems seeing landmarks at night, when the sun is too bright or the sky is too cloudy, or in other conditions that may cause problems unique to the individual. For example, one student did not initially have a problem visually detecting a curb on her route during her morning lesson. However, when she switched to afternoon lessons, the student could no longer detect the drop-off because the curb was in the shade. Another student suddenly had trouble getting home from school when daylight savings time ended and her bus dropped her off after dark. Fortunately, she had her cane with her and was able to use it to get home. One student with spastic quadriplegia who was an independent routine route traveler did well during lessons, but she struggled with the increased foot traffic that blocked her view of the sidewalk during her lunch hour.
Curbs and Cross Slopes
On narrow sidewalks, without grass between the sidewalk and the street, students who need to turn around should turn so that they face the drop-off instead of putting their back to the drop-off.
Watch video ST9a: Sidewalk Travel: Turn to face curb.
When traveling down the sidewalk, the wheelchair user should try to stay to the inside shoreline (closer to the buildings). On the outside shoreline (closer to the street), level changes are more severe than they are on the inside shoreline. The severe pitch of a driveway edge could cause the chair to tip over. Even if the chair does not tip over, it could suddenly change direction and cause the student—and practiced consumer—to veer toward the street.
Watch video ST9b: Sidewalk Travel: Stay to inside shoreline.
Lateral slopes, or sidewalks that slope across the desired line of travel, can be difficult to navigate. If the sidewalk slopes toward the street, gravity will pull the chair toward the street. In most cases, it is the front of the chair that moves toward the street; but if the chair faces uphill, the chair could roll backward down the slope. Manual wheelchair users may need to push harder on the rail on the downhill side of the chair. The grasp on the wheel on the uphill side of the chair may need to be tighter than normal to keep it from rolling down the hill. The hand motions may need to be shorter and choppier with less time than normal with the wheels freewheeling. For severe slopes, the student may be able to maintain a straight line of travel by pointing the front of the chair slightly down hill and pushing with just the hand on the downhill side of the slope. The uphill hand holds the wheel rail, allowing it to slide through the fingers at a rate that in conjunction with pushes from the downhill hand creates a straight line of travel.
Watch video ST9c: Sidewalk Travel: Navigation of cross slopes in a manual chair.
When navigating cross slopes, manual wheelchair users must be able to either use their feet to maintain the line of travel or have enough vision to travel without the use of a cane. Cross slopes require either the use of the legs or the use of two hands. Students who need a cane but cannot use their legs will have a difficult time navigating hills and cross slopes. They should consider switching to a powered chair or scooter for travel areas with hills or slopes, including curb ramps.
Watch video ST9d: Sidewalk Travel: Using feet and legs to navigate cross slopes in a manual chair.