CaneTucky builds independence for students who are blind or visually impaired

CaneTucky – an annual event hosted at the University of Kentucky – gives students with blindness or visual impairment the opportunity to practice real-world travel skills with support from students and trained specialists in the UK College of Education’s Orientation and Mobility program.

Fourteen-year-old Braxton Miller was among those navigating campus during this year’s event. He was diagnosed at a young age with retinitis pigmentosa, a condition that causes cells in the retina to deteriorate over time.

“It’s like I’m looking through straws,” Miller said. “I have about 40 percent of my central vision left and no peripheral. My eyes don’t dilate in dim light, so I can’t see in the dark.”

Doctors once told him he might lose his vision completely by age 25. Now, he’s participating in a study in Cincinnati that offers new hope. CaneTucky gave him the chance to continue building skills he may use now or in the future.  

“It is helpful, whenever I’m doing my techniques with my cane, having someone with me to say, ‘Hey you could do this a bit better, or hey that is something that needs to be fixed, or hey you’re doing great.’ It really does help so I can get better at it, so I am more prepared in the future if I ever have to use my cane,” said Miller, who is a student at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCAPA) at Lafayette High School, specializing in vocal performance.

Miller was paired with Bethany Shearer, a 2025 graduate of the UK College of Education Teacher Preparation Program in Visual Impairments who works as a teacher of the visually impaired in Wayne County. Shearer is currently earning a master’s degree in the UK College of Education’s Orientation and Mobility program.

For Shearer, CaneTucky is both a teaching and learning opportunity. During the event, she offered feedback and assessed Miller’s travel skills, such as navigating stairs, crossings streets, and walking with a dog from Leader Dogs for the Blind as part of a friendly competition designed to help students gain confidence and refine their skills. This year, 24 students from 14 different Kentucky counties participated in CaneTucky. The event takes place during blindness awareness month each October and raises awareness of the white cane.

“People sometimes think that if someone is blind or visually impaired, their life must be limited. But the white cane is a symbol of independence and forward movement. We want students to get out and practice skills in places like Lexington and build stepping stones toward independence,” Shearer said.

As a student in the Master of Arts in Orientation and Mobility program, Shearer is part of a cohort of students learning to teach individuals who are blind or visually impaired to navigate safely and independently. Graduates go on to work in schools, rehabilitation centers, and community organizations, helping people live more independent and confident lives.

Courses in the Orientation and Mobility program are offered via Zoom in the evenings, with two to three in-person weekends per semester in the fall and/or spring. There are approximately 15 days of intensive in-person classes spread through the summer. The Fall 2026 deadline to apply for admission is March 2 (new cohorts of students start the program in the fall semester of even years). The Orientation and Mobility program is supported by funding from the Kentucky Department of Education, which can include coverage of graduate tuition for eligible students.

CaneTucky is sponsored by the Lexington Lions Club and Kentucky School for the Blind Charitable Foundation. For more information on CaneTucky or earning a degree in the Orientation and Mobility or the Teacher Preparation Program in Visual Impairments, contact faculty members Donna Lee, Ph.D., at donna.b.lee@uky.edu or Justin Kaiser, Ph.D., at justin.kaiser@uky.edu.