Orientation and mobility training is an important step to improve your ability to move and travel safely and confidently in your environment. Although the COVID-19 pandemic may have temporarily forced some schools to close, there are still online schools for orientation and mobility that can help.
Orientation is the ability to identify your surroundings and know where you are. Mobility is the ability to get from one place to another effectively. An Orientation and Mobility Specialist can help you enhance your skills to feel more comfortable in your environment. You will be able to feel safer moving about both inside and outside your home.
Sites like VisionAware.org can serve as online schools for orientation and mobility. On the VisionAware.org site, you can find orientation and mobility topics such as information about the white cane, traveling outdoors, and walking with a guide. There are also videos and information about the history of orientation and mobility. The Perkins School for the Blind’s E-learning website also has links to information and videos about orientation and mobility.
Online schools for orientation and mobility are also great for providing basic information and techniques for sighted caregivers. A sighted person can serve as a human guide for the visually impaired. Online training for human guides will help a sighted person safely assist others. Techniques for guiding someone through doorways or up a flight of stairs are examples of what you can learn as a human guide. View Braille Institute’s Human Guide Techniques flyer in PDF format.
Don’t let the pandemic prevent you from moving forward in your path to improve your orientation and mobility. Online schools for orientation and mobility can be an alternative for you until your local school reopens.
1-800-BRAILLE (1-800-272-4553) | www.brailleinstitute.org
