How to Become an Orientation & Mobility Specialist | HospitalCareers.com (2024)

FAQs

What is a certified orientation and mobility specialist? ›

A Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist (COMS), is a highly trained expert who specializes in working with individuals who are blind, low vision or who have functional visual limitations, and empowers them to achieve their life goals for education, employment, avocation and independence.

It defines orientation as a blind person's awareness of their physical position and mobility as their ability to safely and independently move from place to place. It then outlines various techniques including cane technique, sighted guide techniques, self-protective techniques, and general orientation tips.

A mobility specialist is a professional who helps individuals with mobility difficulties. They work with clients to develop treatment plans based on their needs and medical histories, and they facilitate stretching sessions.

The overall job outlook for Low Vision Therapist, Orientation or Mobility Specialist, or Vision Rehabilitation Therapist careers has been positive since 2004. Vacancies for this career have increased by 51.52 percent nationwide in that time, with an average growth of 3.22 percent per year.

Typically, a person with no prior O&M training and little to no useful vision will need three to six months of training to become as independent as their abilities permit. Students who have had previous training can complete the program in three to four weeks.

Orientation and mobility (O&M) training teaches a person with visual impairment to use mobility aids such as a white cane or guide dog and move safely through their environment. Professionals usually conduct sessions one-to-one so they can tailor training to a person's specific needs and goals.

Orientation and mobility specialists help people with disabilities stay actively involved in society. They teach blind, visually impaired, and disabled individuals how to master the skills necessary to live independently and often encourage them to participate in various educational or recreational programs.

Orientation & Mobility experts define clues and landmark as, “any familiar object, sound, smell, temperature, tactile or visual clue that is easily recognised, is constant and has a discrete permanent location in the environment that is known to the traveller.” A clue can include the sounds, smells, temperature, ...

What is a mobility certification? ›

The Balance and Mobility Specialist Instructor Certificate Program is designed to provide physical activity instructors and health care professionals with the knowledge and practical skills necessary to implement an evidence-based balance and mobility training program for older adults at moderate-to-high risk for falls ...

In a typical day, an orientation and mobility specialist might orient a college student who is blind to locate classes, the cafeteria and the library on a college campus; instruct a young adult who has low vision in the use of a GPS device; and teach a man who is visually impaired to cross two busy streets to get to ...

A primary goal of orientation and mobility training is to help each child with visual impairments achieve independent movement to as great a degree as possible. Some children may be preparing to get a dog guide, or learning how to access public transportation to get across town to a job.

Orientation and Mobility training provides tremendous benefits, including: Increased independence: O&M training empowers people with blindness and low vision to confidently navigate their home and other environments. Training also helps increase someone's ability to remain active and reduce reliance on others.

Orientation vs mobility

Orientation refers to a person's ability to use their senses to know where they are positioned in their environment. Mobility refers to the person's capability and readiness to move in their environment.

Orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists teach individuals with visual impairments to travel safely, confidently and independently in their environment. They work with infants, children and adults usually on a one-to-one basis in a home, school, hospital or in the community.

Orientation and mobility training helps a person with a visual impairment know where he or she is in space and where he or she wants to go (orientation) and how to carry out a plan to get there (mobility).

The combination TVI and O&M Specialist provides direct service and consultation to students as per the students IEP/IFSP. This position works one on one on the student's school site and in the community and collaborates with classroom teachers in the planning and executing O&M plans.