People with visual impairments use a wide variety of sensory information to understand the world around them. Many persons who are visually impaired (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) use some form of echolocation to monitor the space around them. This process of identifying the properties of an object may be referred to as…

Introduction: A national validation study on the "Orientation and Mobility Visual Impairment Scale of Service Intensity of Texas (O&M VISSIT)" was conducted. Methods: Fifty-two of the original 115 interested participants completed the study that used a mixed-methods research design. After finishing the "O&M VISSIT" for…

Parental involvement, as one of the most widely researched and discussed issues. It has been characterized by a variety of meanings, definitions and frameworks. Such notions and definitions provide a foundation for solving parental involvement challenges in the education of the visually impaired learners. This study provides a literature review on…

Introduction: To better serve students with visual impairments who are enrolled in personnel preparation programs training orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists, faculty should be aware of effective teaching strategies, tools, and resources to use. In this context, it is vital that instructors in personnel preparation programs for O&M…

Introduction: Individuals with visual impairments may use long canes for estimating distances and detecting gaps, obstacles, and texture patterns. The study presented here investigated whether length perception with canes is influenced by cane material. Methods: Visually impaired, sightedblindfolded, and sighted individuals (n = 30 for each group)…

A person's ability to travel independently can determine whether he or she transitions successfully from one life stage to another. One critically important aspect of independent travel is coming to understand how vehicles move in the built environment. For youth without visual disabilities, this information is addressed in depth in driver's…

Introduction: This study analyzed survey responses from 114 orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists regarding the content and procedures they used in completing O&M assessments. Methods: O&M specialists completed an online survey in 2020 on their assessment practices for children and youths who are visually impaired. Results: Over…

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to survey the faculty of personnel preparation programs that train orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists in the identification of accommodations, teaching techniques, and resources needed to teach students who are visually impaired (i.e., those who are blind or have low vision) and who are…

The development of mobile apps, which are either suitably adapted or especially designed for use by sensory-deprived people, have contributed significantly to the continuously increasing adoption of digital assistive technologies by people with disabilities. Throughout the design of two assistive navigation mobile apps for blind and visually…

Virtual reality applications for blind people in smartphones were used to make virtual visits in advance to unknown spaces; these need to include a set of cognitive and sensitive interfaces that allow users to use their other sensory capabilities to understand information about their environment and facilitate the interaction with the application,…

The study is aimed at investigating the impact of orientation and mobility (O&M) training as a part of the special education curriculum on the social adjustment of visually impaired children. The population consisted of visually impaired children between the ages of (5-15), studying at different special education institutes in Pakistan was the…

Purpose: Visually impaired people are weak in terms of their learning words and concepts by hearing them and their experience of the world with their bodies. In addition to developing a standardized assessment tool in the Development of Orientation and Mobility Skill Assessment Tool (OMSAT/YOBDA) for Visually Impaired Students Project, supported…

Over the last decade, many innovations have significantly changed the classroom. As a result, the authors believe the roles of vision professionals, primarily teachers of students with visual impairments, orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists, and braille transcribers, have likewise changed drastically in that time period. Although the…

This article portrays the complex nature of the transition process for two students with visual impairments (VI), both functionally blind, who successfully completed a bachelor's degree. Standardized open-ended interviews provided individual perspectives on the transition services, supports, and challenges faced by the participants with VI during…

The orientation and mobility (O&M) profession is well established in Australia and New Zealand. This paper gives a situational analysis of O&M in these countries, including a brief history, an overview of professional training and current activity, and data gained from two censuses of the profession undertaken in 2002 and 2011. Social…