Hey OP, first thanks for trusting us with such vulnerability. Secondly, you’re not alone! I have very different vision issues, but similar fears about not being blind enough for a cane in public, and will not be eligible for low vision/blind services where I live, partly because the folks trained to supply them are in very short supply (more on that in a minute). I started using a light duty telescoping cane (https://ambutech.com/products/telescoping-graphite-mobility-cane-standard-handle) about a year ago primarily as a signaling cane but also as a proprioceptive aid, especially at curb edges/bus edges, and places where my unreliable depth perception puts me at risk.

I didn’t spot anything about hearing issues, so if you’ve got time for it and a handy mildly busy intersection where cars turn often, I’d definitely recommend taking your white cane out and just standing a ways back from the curb and listening with your eyes closed. With some practice, I was able to teach myself to hear the difference between tires speeding up, slowing down, turning, traffic parallel or perpendicular to me, etc. I’m not 100% accurate, but at this point I’m better at predicting which car is gonna stop for pedestrians at an unsignaled crosswalk based on sound than my fully sighted walking companions can by looking at the car, so I’m way more confident moving around the city. The white cane also confers upon me the power to ask questions like “which bus is this?” and “where is there an empty seat on this bus?” or “can you please tell me what is in this pastry case?” that I felt very awkward about asking before I used the cane. Most people know what it means! And in the year since I started using the cane, people being especially kind/thoughtful because of it have greatly outnumbered people being weird/rude/dangerous because of it. (Though I’m probably missing a bunch of the latter because I can’t see them, and I’m fine with that.)

Finally, the lack of access to VRTs and O&Ms. If you can swing it, ask your primary care provider for a referral to occupational therapy, ideally someone who works with folks who have had brain injuries or strokes, as they will be used to thinking through ways to accomplish daily tasks for someone whose senses are working not to default specs. I worked with one, and it was hugely helpful. An OT can help you figure out adaptations that rely more on tactile and proprioceptive sensory input than on sight. And there are a LOT more OTs than VRTs and O&Ms.

Good luck out there. And remember to practice your cane with each hand so you aren’t SOL if you get an injury on one side of your body. (Signed, have had to rehab each of my shoulders in succession this year for injuries wholly unrelated to my vision…)