Virginia Cane Quest 2024

Virginia Cane Quest 2024 will be held at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind on Monday, October 14 from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.

Cane Quest seeks to motivate Blind and Visually Impaired youth  to practice proper safe travel techniques and overall Orientation and Mobility skills. It's designed to promote a student's confidence in any surrounding and build true mobility independence. This form must be completed by an Orientation and Mobility instructor to validate the student’s skill level and visual acuity. A separate form must also be signed by a parent or legal guardian for a student to participate.

Contest Description:

  1. Cane Quest, a program of Braille Institute, is open to visually impaired students in grades 3 through 12 who have received instruction in the use of the white cane, and who are both cognitively and physically able to walk independently for an hour at a time.

  2. A student should be familiar with the skills on the checklist but does not have to have mastered all of them.

  3. A student's visual acuity must fall within the B1 through B4 classification range as defined by the United States Association of Blind Athletes

    1. Class B1 -  no light perception in either eye up to light perception, but inability to recognize the shape of a hand at any distance or in any direction

    2. Class B2 -  from ability to recognize the shape of a hand up to visual acuity of 20/600 and/or a visual field of less than five degrees in the best eye with the best practical eye correction

    3. Class B3 -  from visual acuity above 20/600 and up to visual Acuity of 20/200 and/or a visual field of less than 20° and more than 5° in the best eye with the best practical eye correction

    4. Class B4 -  from visual acuity above 20/200 and up to visual acuity of 20/70 and a visual field larger than 20° in the best eye with the best practical eye correction

  4.  Students must use a white cane for this contest and must wear closed-toed shoes

  5. Cane Quest will be held in person

  6. Students will complete the route or checklist in partnership with a sighted volunteer

  7. All participants will be monitored at all times throughout the program

Requirements to Participate

  1. A parent/guardian or assigned party is required to remain on site throughout the event

  2. Students must use a white cane for this contest and must wear closed-toed shoes

  3. All students who register must participate in all aspects of Virginia Cane Quest with an adult who is 18 years old or older, known as the contestant's teammate. 

  4. A student's visual acuity must fall within the B1 through B4 classification range as defined by the United States Association of Blind Athletes

  5. Students will compete in one of four groups

    1. Scout: grades 3 through 6

    2. Navigator: grades 7 through 12 (new cane travelers or those working on basic skills)

    3. Explorer: grade 7 through 9

    4. Trailblazer: grades 10 through 12

Please note that both registration forms below need to be completed for a student to be fully registered for Cane Quest. One must be completed by a parent or guardian and one must be completed by the student's Orientation and Mobility Instructor.

 

If you would like to volunteer to assist with Cane Quest, please complete the volunteer application .