Understanding the role of orientation and mobility specialists
Have you ever seen a person using a
white cane being followed by another person who appears to be shadowing the
cane user? That was most likely their orientation and mobility specialist
(O&M), who is teaching appropriate cane-traveling techniques. Often,
teachers have concerns about the safety of students who are blind or who have
severe visual limitations that may be included in their classrooms.
Understanding the roles and responsibilities of the O&M specialist is a
first step to establishing that collaborative working relationship.
Orientation and mobility specialists
most often work with students who have visual impairments by:
- Teaching
orientation, which includes developing body image awareness and sensory skills.
- Teaching
environmental concepts to build the student’s understanding of the world they
cannot see.
- Teaching
sensory awareness for auditory, tactual, and kinesthetic discrimination and
localization.
- Teaching long
cane skills, how to use a sighted guide, and how to travel without aids about a
specific space, such as a classroom.
- Teaching
students with low vision how to use visual aids and residual vision for travel.
- Teaching
specific routes to and from frequently visited places, such as how to get to a bus
stop, move from classroom to classroom, and locate important places and items
within those spaces, such as toilets, lunchrooms, and locker rooms.
- Teaching how to
use specific assistive devices for travel, including laser lights and sonar,
and low vision aids, such as optical telescopes and microscopes.
- Teaching daily
living skills, such as how to use public transportation systems, use pay phones
and ATMs, ride elevators and escalators, and other things we need to do every day.
Orientation and mobility specialists can
provide help to the IEP team by:
- Assessing a student’s
functional visual abilities for activities of daily living and traveling tasks.
- Providing that
assessment to the IEP team and assisting in setting goals and benchmarks for
the student’s travel and safety needs.
- Providing
information about assistive devices that would help or support student travel
and movement performance.
- Helping school
personnel develop a safe evacuation plan in case of a fire or other emergency.
- Helping
teachers modify classroom settings to improve the student’s use of remaining
vision, such as special lighting and removing glare.
- Designing
activities that families can use to practice at home the skills learned at
school.
- Coordinating
services and referring students to other vision services and service agencies
as appropriate.
For more detailed descriptions of
O&M specialists and information about professional preparation and
employment opportunities, visit these websites:
