The Importance of Orientation and Mobility Skills for Students Who Are Deaf-Blind (2024)

FAQs

What is the need for orientation and mobility skills to students who are deaf and blind? ›

The Importance of Orientation and Mobility Skills for Students Who Are Deaf-Blind. Orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction provides students who are deaf-blind with a set of foundational skills to use residual visual, auditory, and other sensory information to understand their environments.

Some key benefits of orientation and mobility training include increased independence, safety, personal development, and community integration for visually impaired individuals. It involves developing sensory awareness skills like using sounds, smells, and touch to understand one's surroundings.

Orientation and mobility is a set of skills that allow for a person who is blind or has low vision to independently and safely navigate their way through their environment.

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.

Age of Onset

The development of motor skills and cognitive skills is affected most by early losses of vision and hearing. As a result, the formulation of concepts and mobility skills requires more time and repetition in the face of these sensory losses.

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 is the ability to recognise one's position in relation to the environment, whereas mobility is the ability to move around safely and efficiently. Orientation and mobility (O&M) training teaches people to use their remaining vision and other senses to get around. Canes and optical aids may also be used.

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.

Examples of Orientation and Mobility Skills

Listening to traffic and other cues to determine the type of intersection and the safest time to cross. Learning to ask for assistance and direct a peer or teacher how to provide help appropriately.

How do you teach blind and visually impaired students? ›

Visual Impairment

Permit lecture notes to be taped and/or provide enlarged copies of lecture notes where appropriate. Make available large print copies of classroom materials by enlarging them on a photocopier. Convey in spoken words whatever you write on the chalkboard. Read aloud subtitles when using media resources.

Two types of canes are most commonly used: The support cane provides physical stability. A white support cane can identify you as a person who is blind or has low vision. The probing cane (more commonly called a “white cane” or a “long cane”) probes for and locates obstacles in your path of travel.

Orientation is the process of introducing new employees to their responsibilities, co-workers and workplace. An effective orientation training helps people feel more comfortable within their new roles, teams and departments, while also making them aware of company expectations and policies.

Permission for Transportation O&M Assessment/Instruction

The service of Orientation and Mobility (O&M) evaluates and teaches students with visual impairments to travel safely and efficiently throughout familiar and unfamiliar environments–home, school, and community.

Another benefit of a learning orientation is that it can help you be more creative and innovative. When you are open to new ideas, you are more likely to come up with new and creative solutions to problems. You are also more likely to see new opportunities that others might not see.

Orientation and mobility training (O & M) helps a blind or visually impaired child know where he is in space and where he wants to go (orientation). It also helps him be able to carry out a plan to get there (mobility).

Some people who are Deaf‑blind read and write braille. Others may use tactile sign language, in which signs like those used in ASL are made on the person's body or hand. And some may use tactile or visual symbols or objects, or even simple physical touch, to communicate.