05 August 2025
"Ask virtually any newly blind or visually-impaired person what's the most difficult thing to deal with, and the response is nearly always the same—the loss of independence. The cornerstone of independence for most people is the ability to get around—to travel to work, school, the grocery store, or anywhere else they want to go without relying on someone else."
The public often has the belief expressed in the brochure quoted above, that blindness is synonymous with loss of independence. However, this loss does not need to be the case, provided the blind individual receives Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training. Parents and educators alike sometimes question the benefits of O&M for students. With O&M training, the average blind student will be able to walk about independently, and take a bus, taxi, train, or plane, with the long white cane as their mobility tool. For individuals who are blind, the long white cane is the symbol of independence and competence.
Before we move forward, we need to identify the terms orientation and mobility. According to Sarid (2012), orientation involves two related concepts: (1) mental mapping knowledge of one's specific location relative to the world (i.e., positioning and awareness) and (2) awareness knowledge that dictates a direction leading to targeted or desired destinations. Jacobson (1993) states that "mobility is the ability to facilitate any means of movement (i.e., walking, crawling, scooting, or using aids such as wheelchairs or crutches." Basically, orientation is having the ability to form a mental map of the current environment, while mobility is the ability to maneuver efficiently, safely, and successfully from one location to another targeted location (Pogrund & Griffin-Shirley, 2018).
Orientation and Mobility is considered a related service for all students with visual impairments from birth through twenty-one years of age. Instructors of O&M help students develop mental mapping skills whereby they can develop a comprehension of where they are and where their targeted location is within a myriad of environments. For infants who may not yet be walking, O&M instructors begin by giving them infant-sized canes to play with. Through play or exploration, infants will learn that the cane can provide auditory and tactile information. As they grow, O&M instructors help them maneuver about by using the long white cane as their primary mobility tool. Movement is vitally important. It increases blood flow to the brain whereby precious nutrients enable the brain to complete its job (McGregor, 2021). As the toddler maneuvers about with the cane, their self-confidence and sense of well-being increase. "O&M skills enable children to safely explore and interact with the world, including the home, school, and community" (TSBVI and PPAG, nd, par. 4).
O&M instructors using Structured Discovery create lessons by utilizing individualized, student-centered experiences within the student's environment. Keep in mind that student-centered learning is an instructional method that focuses on each student's interests, making the lessons more impactful and meaningful. Therefore, student-centered learning increases the student's attention and knowledge retention.
Orientation and Mobility skills help reduce isolation by promoting skills that will help students interact with others (i.e., family, friends, teachers, future employers) (TSBVI and PP, nd). This meaningful instruction is transformational, extending from the lesson setting to real-life situations.
As the student's O&M skills develop, often their O&M instructors will introduce them to unfamiliar environments. In this way instructors help students build their problem-solving skills. If students can independently problem-solve when their instructors are around, they surely will be able to problem-solve when instructors are not present. Developing problem-solving skills enables students to travel independently.
Some O&M instructors encourage students to receive instruction while wearing sleepshades, also known as learning shades. Sleepshade instruction is not intended to help students adjust to possible decreased vision. Rather, it is used to help students develop the self-confidence to travel independently regardless of lighting conditions. If a student depends on their limited, unreliable vision in well-lighted environments, that student may be rendered helpless in conditions with low lighting, such as darkened rooms (i.e., during classroom educational films or in movie theaters), shaded areas (i.e., tree shade, building shade), in the evening (dusk), or after nightfall.
Since the activities and lessons used for O&M instruction are individualized and hands-on, there is no set guideline or curriculum that fits every student. Here is a short list of concepts that students may focus on during O&M instruction.
· Auditory Awareness, Sensory Awareness
· Body Coordination
· Cardinal Directions
· Even and Odd Numbers
· Indoor Mobility
· Left and Right
· Neighborhood Mobility
· Olfactory and Tactile Awareness
· Problem-solving
· Spatial Awareness
· O&M Helps Students Interact with the Public
As mentioned in the previous section, Orientation and Mobility reduces isolation by promoting skills that will help students to interact with others (i.e., family, friends, teachers, and future employers (TSBVI and PPAG, nd). Many students with visual impairments struggle to initiate contact with the public for assistance or to meet people who could become friends or acquaintances. At the same time, the public may not know how to initiate contact with a person who is blind or has low vision. When students are working on their O&M skills, they have many opportunities to interact with the public. O&M instructors help students overcome their fears of initiating contact with the public or responding to others who initiate conversations with them. Older students quickly learn that they are the instructors when it comes to educating the public about blindness. This realization occurs:
when students realize that members of the public observe them completing a task (i.e., folding bills received from the cashier, or pulling a grocery cart at the supermarket)
when members of the public actually ask questions (i.e., What is that stick?),
when they use an opportunity to educate someone simply by offering a solution (i.e., When you see me enter the cafeteria, will you call out to me so I can find you and we can sit together?)
Leffew (2021) encourages people to announce themselves "when approaching a friend who is blind" (p. 1). This announcement can simply be "Hi, Mickey, it's Mini" or "Hey Lewis, it's Clark from Social Studies." Students may need to inform their friends to do this until their voices are recognizable. Some members of the public think it is fun to go up to a blind person and ask, "Do you know who this is?" However, most students find this rather annoying. Simply put, this type of questioning holds two components.
· it places the student on the spot and in fear of not recognizing the voice and upsetting the person,
· it boosts the ego of the person asking the question when/if he or she is recognized.
O&M training places students in real-life situations that may involve interacting with Customer Service. This experience helps demonstrate to the public that blind individuals can, in fact, shop for their own groceries. Older O&M students may receive training at local shops such as Walgreens or Target. Students learn to access Customer Service to help locate their desired items. At first, the O&M instructor will role model what the student can expect from the Customer Service assistant. Then the student will actually utilize a Customer Service staff member rather than a paid assistant. This experience helps the student become an independent shopper as an adult.
Students become the teachers when they work with Customer Service assistants. Keep in mind that Customer Service assistance is a free service. Therefore, blind individuals need not pay for a reader or assistant to accompany them. It is recommended that individuals needing customer service assistance avoid shopping during peak hours.
After training, students can help their families with grocery shopping. They may also shop independently for gifts, birthday cards, clothing, or electronics. The possibilities are endless!
My daughter is blind, and after she learned shopping skills, sometimes we divided the grocery list to get our shopping done more quickly. As she got older, we would drop our daughter off at the door of the supermarket and she would do her own shopping.
Enter the store.
Locate a grocery cart if needed.
Pull the cart to Customer Service. (Pushing a cart while using a cane is impractical.)
Ask for assistance.
Either hand the assistant a printed grocery list or have a Braille or electronic version of the list to read to the assistant.
Instruct the assistant to pull the cart; follow by holding onto the cart handle and carrying the cane.
Examine each item found by the assistant and place it in the cart. (This ensures that the right item is being purchased, gives the student the opportunity to mark the item, and/or helps with later identification.)
Complete the shopping.
Go to check-out.
Thank the assistant for the help and let them go.
Remove all items from the cart and place them on the belt.
Make sure all items are out of the cart.
Pay for the items.
Count the bags (or do so as they are placed in the cart.)
Double check with the cashier that all bags are in the cart and double-check the number of bags.
Pull the cart out of the store.
O&M training places students in real-life situations that sometimes involve interacting with cashiers. In this way blind individuals have a chance to demonstrate to the public that they can identify currency independently. Identification of currency need not be complicated. Blind people have used simple tricks to identify coins and paper money for years.
Coins
Coins can easily be distinguished by their size, thickness, and edges. Dimes are the smallest US coins, and they have rough edges. Pennies are slightly larger than dimes and have smooth edges. The next largest coin is the nickel. It also has a smooth edge, but it is thicker than the penny. Finally, the quarter is the largest coin, and it has rough edges. Some people may have trouble feeling the rough edge with their finger. A fingernail may be used to scratch the edge of the coin and help determine whether the coin has a rough edge or a smooth one.
Paper Money
There is no standard way for blind people to fold and organize paper money. Although one system is recommended here, students can develop the methods that suit them best. On the other hand, students may like this technique of money identification, and it is perfectly okay for them to use it.
For one-dollar bills, fold in half.
For five-dollar bills, fold in half and in half again, creating a fat five.
For ten-dollar bills, fold in half and in half the long way, creating a thin ten.
For twenty-dollar bills, fold in half and then in half corner to corner, creating triangle twenty.
For fifty-dollar bills, place in a separate compartment of the wallet.
Other Notes
When at the bank or grocery store, fold money before leaving the counter.
When handing money to another blind person, unfold the bill, state what it is, and hand it to the other person, letting them fold it using their own method.
Source: NFM.org
#blind #blindness #visuallyimpaired #accessibility #visualimpairment #sightloss #disability #disabilityawareness #whitecane #lowvision #visualimpaired