Balanced, Protected, and Informed O&M for Active Daily Living

The grant award will help Safe Toddles place mobility tools directly into the hands of children aged 10 months and older. It will also support training so each recipient has help learning how the Belt Cane fits into daily movement, exploration, and safe travel.

The first article in “The Cost of Waiting,” a series examining what happens when we fail to invest in appropriate mobility technology for young children with a mobility visual impairment or blindness.

When deciding whether a blind child needs a mobility device, are we asking the right questions? A clearer developmental framework starts with the child's need for protection and environmental information—not motivation, cane failure, social acceptability, or other unnecessary barriers.

Independent mobility is not learned in a single lesson. It grows through everyday experience: every playground visited, every restaurant explored, every family outing, and every walk around the neighborhood. When children with an MVI/B trust the information provided through extended touch feedback of the Belt Cane, they gain more than mobility. They gain confidence, connection, and the freedom to belong.

Extended touch feedback gives blind children the confidence to navigate school independently. Learn simple summer activities that prepare your child to wear a Pediatric Belt Cane throughout the school day.

Is your blind child ready for school? Discover the self-advocacy, mobility, and motor skills children should practice before the first day of school to build confidence, independence, and successful participation in the classroom.

A New Era in Mobility for Learners with an MVI/B the Pediatric Belt Cane, long cane instruction begins after a child demonstrates the ability to walk and grasp a cane, leaving a critical developmental window unsupported. Safe Toddles educational programming addresses this gap at every age. Our training focuses on assessment and teaching strategies for child wearing the Pediatric Belt Cane, the only mobility tool recognized as a walking solution.