The role of an orientation & mobility (O&M) specialist is essential to provide professional training and recommendations to promote safe, independent street crossings for people who are blind or have low vision. This article provides novel approaches to teaching crossing strategies using tactile maps to individuals with visual impairments…

The profession of orientation and mobility (O&M) is replete with literature describing specific cane techniques, strategies for teaching O&M to specific populations and age groups, rationales, and appropriate settings. These strategies and techniques are also addressed in many university preparation programs. In this article, the author discusses…

Global Positioning Systems' (GPS) technology is available for individuals with visual impairments to use in wayfinding and address Lowenfeld's "three limitations of blindness." The considerations and methodologies for teaching GPS usage have developed over time as GPS information and devices have been integrated into orientation and mobility…

Young children with visual impairments face many challenges as they learn to orient to and move through their environment, the beginnings of orientation and mobility (O&M). Children who are visually impaired must learn many concepts (such as body parts and positional words) and skills (like body movement and interpreting sensory information) to…

A fundamental part of the orientation and mobility curriculum is the acquisition and retention of skills in using a long cane automatically and proficiently to detect and negotiate obstacles and drop-offs. Using practitioners' experiences and the principles of learning theory, instructors can monitor students' advancement and adapt teaching…

There is a general sense today that constructivist teaching is not up to the task of preparing students for high-stakes exams. In this article, the authors describe a highly effective constructivist approach used to teach students in a learning situation that takes the meaning of "high stakes" to another level. They talk about teachers of "cane…

This article proposes an approach to teaching street crossing to students who are visually impaired that considers the risks, ambiguity, and complexity of today's intersections. Thirty or 40 years ago, street crossing was a straightforward task for travelers with visual impairments (that is, those who are blind or have low vision). The…

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)

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)

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…

Information about developments in the field of education of visually handicapped children and about resources available to assist educators in their efforts to initiate, extend, and improve educational programs for these children appears in a wide variety of pamphlets and professional journals. An attempt is made in this bulletin to summarize…