Viral TikTok Video Shows How Blind Toddler Uses a Wearable Cane to Get Around

One mom is using TikTok to spread awareness and educate people on sight impairment with her toddler who is blind.

The mama, who posts under the username guiding_kenedi on the platform, has nearly 133 followers. She shares videos of her daughter at the park and riding a rocking horse. She also and answers users' questions and one of the most common ones she gets is: How do you help your daughter not run into things?

Instead of telling everyone, the mama showed them in a TikTok video that's already gotten 8 million views. In the video, we see little Kenedi hightailing it towards a display case of electronics in Target. A wearable cane gently stops her from bumping into the case. The mom notes that it "allows for some recoil but remains secure so the cane doesn't hit her belly."

Some commenters were impressed and appreciated that the mom shared the video. "I never once considered how a child with limited vision would learn how to walk on their own. This is a brilliant walker/cane," one user wrote. "That's a great device she's using!" another said.

And some just couldn't help but laugh at the toddler being a, well, toddler. "She…said, 'I'm getting me some headphones,'" one TikToker joked. "All she wanted was a phone. Buy it for her," another said, adding a couple of "tears of joy" emojis.

Maybe one day, Kenedi will have her own phone. In the meantime, it's great her mom is raising awareness about blindness. More than 500,000 children in the U.S. have vision difficulty, according to a 2020 American Community Survey (ACS). It's common, and you may have a child in your community with vision difficulties, or your child may go to school with one. Awareness fosters acceptance.

In April, another user on TikTok gave parents a good primer on how to talk to their children about disabilities. The advice would absolutely apply to talking to your child about a classmate or friend who is blind. Danilo Stankovic advised parents to:

• Avoid using "othering" language
• Steer clear of treating disabilities like a tragedy

In the case of Kenedi and her cane, you might tell your child, "Your eyes tell you when you're getting too close to something. Kenedi's cane does the same thing."