The article describes a sequential training curriculum in the use of telescopic visual aids. The curriculum covers 29 topics, including aid maintenance, holding aid properly, focusing, scanning, target location, tracking, aid use for city bus travel, in a shopping center, and in a fast food type restaurant. (Author/SBH)

This report describes the use of peer sampling procedures to develop individualized plans to familiarize an incoming visually impaired person to a university campus and community. Environmental specificity of the procedure is illustrated by application to two residences. (Author/DB)

The discovery-learning approach is being used with great success to teach blind persons orientation and mobility in rural environments. The problem-solving ability that accompanies this approach builds the self-confidence essential to independent travel. Discusses using a long cane, talking clock, and distance and environmental cues such as sun,…

An orientation and mobility curriculum developed in Tulare County, California, includes 30 units for legally blind, partially sighted, multi-impaired, and low functioning sighted students in grades K through 12. Each section includes eight steps to teach basic concepts. Assessment guidelines are used to determine strengths and deficiencies. The 30…

A young blind adult recounts his experiences in using a dog guide, describing psychological adjustment, trials and joys of being a student at a dog guide training center, bonding with the new dog, and adjusting to home life with a dog guide. Suggestions are offered for the improvement of orientation and mobility training. (JDD)

This article describes a three-month orientation and mobility (O&M) program conducted for four potential teachers of individuals with blindness in Taipei (Taiwan). Challenges in residential areas, business areas, buildings, and use of mass transit are illustrated. Although the travel environments were more complex than those in the United…

This article addresses the development of an orientation and mobility (O&M) certification examination by Division Nine of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired. It describes the collection of data that establishes the relative importance of the competencies necessary for O&M. (Contains eight…

Modeling, verbal instructions, and feedback were used successfully in training a severely retarded adult to ride a bus safely and independently to and from work. (Author)

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR) has offered a personnel preparation program in orientation and mobility (O&M) since 1975. Since that time, nearly 400 individuals from the United States and numerous foreign countries have either received degrees or have become eligible for national U.S. certification in O&M. However, it…

Described is the "Taxonomy of Community Living Skills," a guide for curriculum developers. Experts (n=59) in mental retardation were surveyed to assess the taxonomy's coherence, appropriateness, completeness, etc. Responses to the model's five domains (personal maintenance and development, homemaking and community life, vocational,…

Children learn about their environment as they move through it--about people and objects, sizes, shapes, and distances. For typically developing children the senses of sight and hearing provide the greatest motivation for exploration. These children will use their vision and hearing to gather information about their surroundings while growing in…

A program for teaching orientation and mobility to New York City public school students with severe sensory and cognitive impairments incorporates tactile and tangible communication systems and embeds mobility education in students' daily school and home activities. This paper examines necessary prerequisite concepts and offers planning and…

Functional rehabilitation and recreational rehabilitation for blind and visually impaired persons are typically undertaken in separate programs. Described is a model program conducted at a West German hotel which emphasizes both equally and conveys instruction in orientation and mobility, daily living skills, communication skills, and the use of…

This article describes orientation and mobility skills and strategies used by a woman with deaf-blindness, especially methods for crossing the street safely, using the following main strategies: locating key travel areas; developing communication strategies and systems; and identifying community resources for assistance. (CR)

A study was done to identify the level of independent travel considered ideal by three older adults with visual impairments. Results found that the ideal level of functioning is different from that implicitly used in traditional orientation and mobility programs. (CR)