Orientation and Mobility, or O&M, is a profession which focuses on instructing individuals who are blind or visually impaired with safe and effective travel through their environment. Individual O&M specialists can work for schools, government agencies or work as private contractors. The Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) offers certification for vision rehabilitation professionals in the United States.[1]
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Walk the Talk - Perkins Orientation and Mobility Specialists
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Mike Mulligan - Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist - Channel Introduction
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Students Spend Hours Blindfolded To Become Orientation and Mobility Specialists
Transcription
[city traffic noise] [ music ] When we're in school we learn how to read, how to do math, add, subtract, but when you're working with someone who's visually impaired and you're trying to teach them the skills that the need to travel, you've never practiced those skills. You've never learned those skills. So you really have to start out learning those skills before you can teach someone who's visually impaired how to use those skills. Wearing a blindfold, or wearing occluders, is an interesting experience when you're trying to travel independently. It makes you focus on your other sources of information other than your visual information which most of us obviously use a majority of the time. I rely heavily on my auditory information. Some people may not. Some people may not have as good hearing, or for whatever reason they pick up on the changes in the texture of the ground, like if you're walking from a carpet to tiled surface, or if you're walking down a hill, you'll notice changes in pitch very quickly. I think here at Perkins, we really pride ourselves in encouraging our students to be as independent as possible. Traveling on your own is one of the key ways to do that. You need to be able to keep yourself safe, be efficient, get from point A and point B and do it on your own. And that we see is a very valuable skill for all of our students. People don't realize that the ability to get yourself out of your residence in a fire has a huge impact on whether or not you get to live independently as an adult. And just your ability to take yourself through various parts of your day. One thing I really love about orientation and mobility as a field and as a profession is that it's super functional and it's all geared towards helping people become independent and as independent as possible. One of the last things, but I think sometimes the most important thing, is that when you learn the skills under blindfold yourself as an instructor, it builds confidence in those skills. I have confidence that they're going to keep me safe, help me travel efficiently, so that when I teach a student who's visually impaired, I can transfer that confidence to them. I can tell them: these skills are going to keep you safe, they're going to help you be a more independent traveler, and I can really mean it. [city traffic noise]
History
Orientation and Mobility training began after World War II when techniques were developed to help blind veterans of the war. Soldiers who had been blinded in battle were sent to recuperate at Valley Forge General Hospital before entering Avon Old Farms Convalescent Hospital, the U.S. Army's former experimental rehabilitation center for blind soldiers in Avon, Connecticut.[2] In the 1960s, universities started training programs for Orientation and Mobility specialists who were to work with adults and school-age children. In the 1980s, the O&M field recognized the benefit of providing services to preschool-aged children and began to do so. Today, O&M specialists have developed strategies and approaches for serving even younger populations so that O&M training may begin in infancy.
Techniques and training
An Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialist provides training that is designed to develop or relearn the skills and concepts a blind or visually impaired person needs to travel safely and independently through his or her environment. O&M specialists provide services across the life span, teaching infants and children in preschool and school programs, as well as adults in a variety of community-based and rehabilitation settings. Although O&M specialists are primarily responsible for O&M training, their work may not always be done directly with the child. When the child is very young, for example, the O&M may provide consultation to the teacher of students with blindness or visual impairment, vision rehabilitation therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, early intervention specialists and the family.
O&M training focuses on cues that can be observed by a blind or visually impaired person to allow them to understand their location and how to navigate between familiar locations. O&M training is complex in structure and wide in scope. All O&M specialists in the United States who are employed with government agencies are required to obtain certification from ACVREP.[3] O&M certification preparation programs are relatively few in number throughout the United States and in general.[4] Techniques communicated to the trainee vary based on the trainee's life situation. For example, techniques for navigating city streets would be irrelevant for a trainee living in a rural area, and would be skipped.
O&M services are commonly sought multiple times through the life of a single blind or visually impaired person, because they are specific to certain locations, such as homes, workplaces and other necessary destinations that are prone to change throughout life. In the United States, O&M services are typically provided by state governments as part of larger vocational rehabilitation programs. In Texas, for example, the Texas Workforce Commission contracts with individual O&M specialists and companies employing several O&M specialists in order to provide services to blind and visually impaired individuals at no cost to them, with the goal that the skills gained through such training will enable the blind or visually impaired person to gain stable employment in the future.[5]
Common techniques taught include cane travel, trailing, locating dropped objects, navigating street crossings and others.[1]
A systematic review trying to determine the best type of O&M training for people with low vision did not find any significant differences when comparing O&M training delivered by a trained volunteer versus physical exercise, but they had little power to do so because of the small sample size and poor methodological quality. [6]
References
- ^ a b M. Cay Holbrook, Alan J. Koenig. Foundations of Education, Second Edition Vol I: History and Theory of Teaching Children and Youths with Visual Impairments. AFB Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-89128-340-9.
- ^ Foundations of Education, Second Edition Vol I: History and Theory of Teaching Children and Youths with Visual Impairments. p. 25.
- ^ ACVREP. "Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS) - ACVREP". www.acvrep.org. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
- ^ Sauerburger, Dona (Oct 3, 2017). "Orientation and Mobility University and College Personnel Preparation Programs". Retrieved Oct 10, 2017.
- ^ "Vocational Rehabilitation - Adults | Texas Workforce Commission". www.twc.state.tx.us. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
- ^ Virgili G, Rubin G (2010). "Orientation and mobility training for adults with low vision". Cochrane Database Syst Rev (5): CD003925. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD003925.pub3. PMC 7138242. PMID 20464725.
This page was last edited on 28 March 2024, at 02:42