The ability to travel freely and safely is a learned skill that we build as we grow and explore more of the world around us. For kids who are blind, DeafBlind, or have low vision (including those with cerebral/cortical visual impairment or CVI), that same ability can be developed through what is called orientation and mobility (O&M).
But what is O&M, and how do you know whether your child needs O&M assessment and service? What is an O&M specialist? How do O&M services evolve as your child grows and develops? To answer these questions and more, we’ve spoken to Cyndi Davis, a certified orientation and mobility specialist (COMS) and teacher at California School for the Blind, as well as an adjunct faculty member at San Francisco State. We’ve also talked with Rebecca Hommer, EdD, a certified orientation and mobility specialist (COMS), teacher of students with visual impairment (TVI), and teacher of the DeafBlind (TDB), and an educator and education and technical assistance specialist for Connections Beyond Sight and Sound in Maryland.
Davis also tells us that, unlike ocular vision services, “Orientation and mobility is more specific to getting around independently and learning the concepts that lead to getting around independently.” Those concepts include things like:
An orientation and mobility assessment is used to determine whether a child who is blind or has low vision could benefit from orientation and mobility services. O&M assessments are conducted for children of all ages and ability levels, including those who aren’t walking or who use a wheelchair. An O&M assessment often occurs after a referral based on a vision/eye report (but note that this may exclude children with CVI). As this article by Perkins states, “Regardless, an O&M assessment is warranted if the student can’t travel in an age-appropriate way in any environment in the same manner as their peers.”
For children under the age of three, O&M assessments and services are provided through early intervention programs, often under a Regional Center Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) or through a SELPA. For children over three, it transfers over to school-based services through an IEP.
But not every child qualifies for an O&M assessment in the IEP. A key factor is an official diagnosis of visual impairment or DeafBlindness because, in 2006, the Individual with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandated O&M services be reserved only for those students “who are blind or who have a visual impairment” and need the services to help the student to benefit from special education. Here’s what you can expect during this process:
Functional vision assessment (FVA). If your child is blind or has low vision, the school is required by California law (Education Code 56352) to figure out the best way for them to access learning materials — like whether they need braille, large print, audio, or something else. This is done through a special evaluation called a learning media assessment (LMA). But before that happens, there’s usually another important evaluation called a functional vision assessment (FVA). This helps determine how their vision impacts mobility and learning. “It’s going to be a functional vision assessment; even if they don’t have vision, we still document that in a functional vision assessment,” Dr. Hommer says. Here is what that process looks like (find more about this in this pdf of California guidelines for VI).
Learning media assessment(LMA). Next, as also required by law, comes the learning media assessment. “We also have to look at a learning media assessment. Sometimes our little ones aren’t quite ready for that yet, but that’s definitely on our radar,” Dr. Hommer adds. This measures things such as how the child is taking in information. For example, are they an auditory or tactile learner? “We look at the LMA and decide which activities should be supported with vision, tactile, or auditory as the primary senses for gaining information,” she says.
O&M assessment. If the functional vision assessment indicates that your child struggles with orientation, navigation, or independent movement, and you suspect your child might benefit from O&M services, talk to your child’s IEP team about the evaluation process. California Education Code 56354 also specifies that if an O&M evaluation is determined to be needed for a child with low vision, it must be conducted by a person who is appropriately certified as an orientation and mobility specialist. O&M is a related service in the IEP. This assessment will determine whether they need O&M services and what skills they should work on. If the O&M assessment confirms that your child qualifies, work with the IEP team to include O&M goals and services. This could involve direct instruction from an O&M specialist in school and community settings.
Note that the word “impairment” is part of the IDEA’s official language; we at Undivided typically use "low vision, partially sighted, or blind" for visual impairment and "Deaf or hard of hearing" for hearing impairment.
If you’re wondering why your child needs all those assessments, Dr. Hommer gives us some insights: “I know I’m talking about vision and not O&M, but it’s all going to tie together. So we need those assessments to determine how we’re taking in information, and then we’re going to do an orientation mobility assessment, which focuses on that child’s developmental level at that time. But really, the best O&M assessment includes information from the learning media assessment and the functional vision assessment. That helps us plan a really good assessment, and it helps us provide assessment activities that use the student's most effective means for gaining information. Then we can test that a little bit beyond those boundaries to determine the student's baseline and ceiling. This allows us to implement assessment activities that provide the most accurate information.
A child can qualify through their school district to receive an O&M assessment starting at three years old. According to Davis, parents who have a child who qualifies for an O&M assessment, or even who might qualify, should request one right away.
“A lot of times, if a student is qualifying as a three-year-old for the first time in a district based on the services that they’ve been getting for early intervention, those early intervention specialists will recommend and say, ‘Hey, I think they qualify for an orientation and mobility and a vision assessment,’” Davis explains. “If for some reason an orientation and mobility assessment isn’t recommended, you can check in with the vision specialist. They usually have a good idea of if this is a student that would qualify or would not qualify and can help refer and go back to an orientation and mobility specialist to say, ‘Hey, we should do an assessment.’”
Overall, if your child has a diagnosis of visual impairment (VI) or DeafBlindness, it’s worth looking into an O&M assessment, even if they also have cognitive disabilities.
“My advice is to keep pushing the school and saying that you would like an orientation and mobility specialist to give their actual opinion,” Davis says. “I’ve had many students that have all different backgrounds, all different things going on, and sometimes there are reasons for us to still give an orientation and mobility service. I don’t want to eliminate any student without ever seeing them.”
An O&M assessment is designed to be stress-free and functional, focusing on how your child uses their vision in everyday life. Each orientation and mobility assessment is conducted by an orientation and mobility specialist. An O&M assessment includes reviewing school and medical records; observing the child in different environments and at different times of day; interviewing members of the team, including parents and the child; and doing a direct assessment. It starts with an informal interview, but the questions asked, how they’re asked, and the steps taken after that are specifically tuned to the individual being assessed.
After the initial questions, the specialist will likely observe the child in both familiar and unfamiliar places to see what they’re comfortable with and identify gaps in the child’s understanding of where they are in relation to themselves, others, and the world or how to navigate the spaces around them. Finally, the specialist will ask about medical records and previously acquired O&M skills, such as the use of a long cane.
Of course, for older children, the way the specialist asks the questions or the skills previously acquired could vary. Still, the basic principles behind the assessment are the same: to determine your child’s ability to navigate the world and those around them based on factors such as age and vision.
Here’s a summary of what to expect in your child’s O&M assessment.
Parent interview. The assessment starts with you! The evaluator will ask about your child’s interests, daily behaviors, and any mobility challenges you’ve noticed at home. Your input helps make the process engaging and comfortable for your child. Parent tip: share as much detail as possible about your child’s habits and preferences. The more the evaluator knows, the better they can tailor the assessment to your child’s needs.
Observations in different environments. The evaluator will watch your child in familiar environments, such as at school or home, to see how they navigate spaces, interact with objects, and use their vision throughout the day.
Building trust through play. Before jumping into formal assessments, the evaluator will spend time connecting with your child by engaging in activities they enjoy. This helps them feel at ease and ensures the evaluation is accurate.
Direct, formal assessments based on age. Different tools and checklists are used depending on your child’s developmental level to get a full picture of their mobility needs. Some of these include the NMSBVI Orientation & Mobility Inventory, TAPS (Teaching Age-Appropriate Purposeful Skills), and Preschool Orientation and Mobility Screening from AER. Instead of traditional test questions, the assessment includes checklists and observations to see what your child understands about their body and spatial awareness. For example, if a five-year-old kindergarten student was being assessed, the specialist would likely talk to the child and get a sense of the following:
Daily living skills check. The evaluator will assess how your child interacts with their environment, such as putting on shoes, choosing clothes, or opening drawers. These skills impact their ability to move and function independently.
An assessment of the nine areas of VI Expanded Core Curriculum. These are “the foundational skills children with disabilities need for daily life in school, at home, and in the community,” and they “must be strategically taught and integrated into all aspects of their education.” They include the following:
The evaluator should assess both strengths and areas of need to get a complete picture of your child’s skills. The O&M assessment itself can take place in a school or a home setting. Some of the questions can be asked via Zoom or over the phone, but the observations will likely take place in person so that the instructor can see your child interacting with their environment firsthand.
Commonly asked question: do you automatically get services for O&M if you have services for vision impairment in your IEP?
In some states, yes, but not in California. Vision services and O&M are not the same thing. Vision services address what is happening in front of a child in the classroom at any given moment.
Davis tells us, “If vision is not impacting the ability to get around safely or to build concepts, it is estimated that between 60 and 90% of what we learn is by observing other people. So if you have a visual impairment, some of that learning is naturally taken away. If you have a visual impairment where you qualify because it’s really hard for you to focus between what’s on the board and what’s on your desk, and you might use a computer or a video magnifier or something to bring that information in front of you rather than exhausting your eyes — you might still be able to get around visually. So there are people that would qualify for just vision services in order to serve them. It’s that getting around independently, that understanding of self, that observing of those concepts that we directly get to teach our students and have fun with doing that — if it’s missing, definitely ask for an orientation and mobility. assessment. But there’s times where you may get an orientation and mobility assessment, and they may find that it’s actually easier to support teaching a few of those concepts through a teacher of the visually impaired than having a separate service where you may be missing out on other concepts or things that other therapists might be providing.”
For example, if the teacher is conducting a history lesson, vision services might guarantee that a child with VI has a tactile map instead of a 2D printed version. Those services are provided after a functional vision evaluation, which determines what modifications and accommodations the student with VI needs to complete schoolwork and learn in a classroom setting. An additional, separate assessment is needed to determine whether a student qualifies for O&M services. However, if your child does qualify for vision services, it would be a good idea to ask for an O&M assessment as well.
Commonly asked question: what if your school district tells you they don’t have an O&M specialist on staff?
It’s also important to note that all of these O&M specific goals require an O&M specialist to be working with your child. Not all public schools have that specialist on staff full time, but any time a student who qualifies for O&M services is enrolled at a public school, the district is required to provide a specialist who can help the student with their O&M IEP goals.
As Davis tells us, “You don’t have to transfer. It is your district’s responsibility to bring us to you. So there are several different organizations where we will contract people to different schools, and it is the school’s job to help seek that out. Sometimes, you really have to keep pushing and keep asking. But please do that. It’s really important for your child that they are receiving these services.”
Because each child’s individual O&M assessment will have unique results, the services and supports will be specifically tailored as well. However, orientation is always made up of two components — landmarks, which are permanent, and clues, which are temporary. Likewise, mobility is always the ability to safely move from place to place, generally using the skills of object detection, identification, and avoidance that we’ll address later. That’s why, even though each O&M assessment is unique, there are common services and supports that overlap for many kids, because the basic goals of O&M are similar for everyone. Here are some common O&M services and supports:
Generally an initial step in O&M for young children, as both Davis and Dr. Hommer point out, this skill is essential to understand where you are in relation to your own body and how to use your body to keep yourself safe, navigate the areas around you, and interact with other people. By understanding what and where your hands are, what the features are on your face and other people’s faces, the different parts of your legs and arms, etc., you can begin to understand mirroring and gain greater body awareness and control.
This helps kids become better at landmarking or clue finding in orientation. Specialists work with children on touching various types of common textures, such as wood, tile, and carpet, so that the children can easily tell which texture they’re standing on and what that likely means about the room they’re in or the material they’re working with.
This helps children figure out where they are in relation to the world around them by using sight, smell, sound, and touch to identify permanent conditions of a room or area. For example, the line where carpet switches to tile in a house is a landmark, and so is the increase of sounds and echoes in a bathroom. The ability to landmark can also help kids learn cardinal directions and orient themselves accordingly.
Davis and Dr. Hommer agree that a specialist can help kids understand traffic flow using sounds, visual cues, and information about where cars drive on roads, times buses come to stops, and routes metros and other forms of public transportation take across the city. Kids learn how to use tactile maps, listen for auditory announcements, and ask drivers or other public transportation users for assistance safely.
The five point travel system helps children understand the shape and movement of travel patterns. It begins with basic straight lines and progresses to more complicated directional routes.
1.Route patterns and shapes
2.Compass and cardinal directions: understanding where you are in relation to the directions of a compass (north, south, east, and west)
3.Hallway names or street names: being able to explain where you are using the names of hallways or streets you’re currently on and navigating toward
4.Landmarks: objects that are permanent in an area
5.Reverse order: finding your way home again or back to the original travel spot where you started
A white cane is a mobility aid. They can be acquired for free from your school district or from the National Federation of the Blind. Learning to use a white cane to detect, identify, and avoid objects in their path makes it easier for kids to move independently and understand the space around them by exploring it and navigating it themselves.
As Dr. Hommer tells us, “I would say 80% of our students use a white cane. They use a white cane or some type of surface preview — what is coming up in front of me? The other really amazing thing about a white cane is that it lets other people know that this child or this person doesn’t see in the same way as those with typical vision. And so we need to give them a little grace. If somebody with a cane bumps into you and you turn, you’re like, ‘Oh, they didn’t see me. It’s okay.’”
Davis adds, “Our most commonly used tool is probably the white cane. That’s kind of our flagship. Everyone knows us for it, and that is a really nice tool for building independence. It is much nicer to find a chair pulled out from the desk with a white cane than it is to find it with your shins. So teaching our students, from the beginning, how to use those types of tools. For some of the younger students, we do modified devices. So if they’re not quite ready to use a cane, sometimes they’ll use a push tool or something like that, where they’re using two hands and pushing it in front of them, before they learn how to use the white cane independently.”
But is a white cane for everyone? Dr. Hommer answers:
A qualified O&M instructor should assess and determine the best mobility tool for a student, whether it’s a kiddie cane, an adapted cane, or an alternative mobility device. They will collaborate closely with families, school staff, and, if needed, the student’s physical therapist to ensure the right fit for the child’s needs.
White cane training can be extensive, though. Davis explains that there is still a lot of training that goes along with how to use it appropriately, how to have it far enough in front of you, the pattern with which you move, etc. But when it’s completed, users will keep the cane within the width of their shoulders as they step and walk, which allows them to navigate stairs, detect objects in their path, and travel independently. “It all affects how effective it is for you,” she says. “So it’s not like we can just hand it to our brand-new students and have them know exactly how to use it. There’s a lot of training for years that goes along with it. So part of why it is effective is it also lets other people know, ‘Hey, this is a person that may not see you and may bump into you,’ and people are a lot less upset. So sometimes our students, just by virtue of moving around, might bump into somebody, and if they have a white cane, people are like, ‘Oh, okay, they didn’t mean to do that.’ And so it’s kind of a signal for other people also of what tool this person is using,” Davis shares.
As opposed to a white cane, which is an object detector, a guide dog is categorized as an “object avoider.” In order to qualify for a guide dog, students have to complete other orientation and mobility goals to demonstrate that they are able to fully utilize all that a guide dog has to offer. Additionally, guide dog recipients have to be age 16, sometimes 18, or up. Still, this is an ideal option for many people because it increases independence and speed of travel while also adding a canine member to the family.
Under IDEA, orientation and mobility services are listed as related services in the IEP. Related services are defined as “transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as are required to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education.” That means orientation and mobility, since it is designed to assist a child with a disability to benefit from special education, falls clearly under the category. IDEA goes on to specifically address O&M:
(7) Orientation and mobility services—
Commonly asked question: if your child has a co-occurring diagnosis that already qualifies them for an IEP, should you still include their low-incidence disability?
Yes, because it helps make sure your child can access O&M, equipment, and assistive technology through the IEP process. In general, low-incidence status according to the IDEA means “any impairment for which a small number of personnel with highly specialized skills and knowledge are needed in order for children with that impairment to receive early intervention services or a free appropriate public education.” Low incidence specifically includes “a visual or hearing impairment.”
The reason low-incidence status matters on an IEP is because if a low-incidence disability is listed as either a primary or secondary reason for the IEP, it opens up additional government funding that the school can access to obtain O&M services for your child, according to Davis. In fact, public schools who have children enrolled with a diagnosis of a visual impairment or blindness are mandated to provide visual services, which can include O&M services, as part of a student’s IEP.
Davis says, “There is low-incidence funding because a lot of tools and equipment are expensive. The government provides low-incidence funding that goes through your home district, and so they would be able to order supplies and add you to their list of low-incidence funding. The reason that distinction is really important is when you’re in an IEP meeting, you want to make sure that if your child qualifies in one of the low-incidence areas, that is listed as one of their reasons for having an IEP. If you have a child who has many needs, there are always so many different things you can list, but there’s additional funding for those low-incidence areas.”
O&M services can be and should be written into an IEP. The goals will look different depending on the child, but there are some similarities for many students. Plus, the goals will be written by your child’s whole team, including their O&M specialist. That way, the needs addressed can be well-rounded and holistic. In general, IEP goals will be broken down into three general phases of body concepts — a hierarchy of skills, as Dr. Hommer explains.
Body-to-body. A child is learning their own body. For example, do I know my own body? Do I know my body parts? Do I know my own body and space? Can I identify all those bodies and then body parts? Can I take my hand and put it on my head? Can I take my hand and put it on my knee?
Body-to-object. They understand where their own body is in relation to the objects around them. For example, can I put my foot under the table? Can I put my hand on the wall? Can I put my head under the covers?
Object-to-object. This is awareness of objects in space that are not their own body but are in relation to each other. For example, can a child place a pencil on their desk next to their book? Can they put a mitten on top of the cabinet? Can they take the shoe and put it on top of the cabinet? Can they look beneath, next to, over, under, and out?
“All of those things that we need to be an independent traveler begin when they’re small,” Dr. Hommer explains. “And we build those concepts so that they can grow out.”
Here are some other things you could include in the IEP:
Goals for getting around the school
Goals for traveling
Davis has written and consulted on many IEP goals for her students, and she has provided us with some examples of what they could look like. All of these are written by Davis and taken directly from her own experience.
As is clear from the examples, these goals could not be met purely in a classroom setting. The specialist would work with the child both inside and outside of the school to make sure they were able to accomplish the skills. Additionally, the goals aren’t necessarily curriculum-related — instead, they’re tailored for a more practical, less academic set of skills. Visual services, which would also be included in an IEP for a student with visual impairment or blindness, would have their own set of goals.
As your child receives O&M services, regular assessments ensure their needs are being met and their progress is on track. These assessments help determine what’s working, what needs adjustment, and how to best support your child’s mobility and independence. Here’s what to know.
Triennial assessments (every three years)
Davis explains that every three years, your child will have a triennial assessment, a comprehensive review that reevaluates their strengths, their challenges, and any changes in their vision or mobility skills. “Sometimes they go to the doctor and we find out they have another vision condition,” Davis says. “Or something’s improving with growth and we want to know, or they found glasses that work really well. We want to know all of that so that we can change our program based on what the child needs. So every three years, you get a really in-depth assessment that really goes into all the different details, so we can really review and make sure we’re not missing anything.”
Annual observational assessment
In between triennial assessments, an annual observational assessment helps monitor progress toward goals and adjust services as needed. You can also request a more in-depth assessment at any time if there’s a significant change in your child’s needs. “Every year, I do an observational assessment, which is where I go back to the goals that I wrote for that year, and I say, ‘What is our progress compared to that? What are skills this student has? What are areas of need?’ They can use that information to write appropriate goals to that student,” Davis explains.
Service minutes and goals
O&M minutes and goals are written directly into the IEP after an assessment deems O&M services necessary and appropriate. Dr. Hommer explains that in several states, a student who is identified as having any kind of low vision is without question entitled to an O&M assessment, and the assessment is going to determine baseline skills and identify needs. But there are times a student may not qualify for services. “The O&M assessment may identify basic needs that can be taught by the general or special education teacher and addressed across the student's school day. For example: the student is great at completing routes within their school building and campus but are not quite old enough to begin lessons within the community setting. In these cases, we wouldn’t see an orientation mobility goal. You might see consult, but not direct services.”
After services are approved, the amount of service time is based on need, ensuring the right balance between support and participation in other activities. Some things they might assess include what the student is getting out of the set amount of time and how much that is taking away from the rest of their program, then balancing that to make sure that the student is getting the right number of minutes to be successful.
“That’s constantly being reassessed by the whole team, making sure we meet the right minutes for this student to be successful,” Davis explains. ”But we don’t want to take them more than we need to either. So sometimes when those minutes reduce, it can be really scary as a parent, but sometimes it’s actually a really good thing. It means we’ve built up some stamina, we’ve built up some skill, and your child can actually be successful in a little bit less minutes. So we can make sure that they’re participating in another activity.”
The orientation mobility specialist is one of the service providers, and that is written in the service minutes page. So, make sure that if your child is receiving O&M supports, that’s in there, whether it’s a specialist on staff or contracted out. “We will write that up and it will say how many minutes [with an O&M specialist] they get. And it usually is weekly, but sometimes we put it in monthly — each district likes to document it slightly differently,” says Davis. “And then as far as goals, once there’s minutes in the book, we need to have goals to go along with those minutes, and those goals are going to be based specifically on your child. So when we’re doing that assessment, we see what the areas of need are, and we try to prioritize. We try to communicate with you: is there something you’re working on at home that we want to support at school? Is there a way that we’re supporting each other to make sure that these goals are continuing to be successful for this child?”
No matter the age of the child, the goal of O&M remains the same — independence. Each step of the curriculum, therefore, from infancy through adulthood, is built to achieve that goal step-by-step. However, there are milestone goals that many O&M specialists work toward.
The Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) is also something to include in their education, at all ages. The ECC, in a nutshell, “is a nine-area curriculum to help bridge the gap between a standard school curriculum and what an individual who is blind or visually impaired would miss due to lack of visual access — to instruction, the environment, activities, social interactions, and incidental learning.” California Education Code 56353 recognizes the importance of assessing the ECC for children who are blind or have low vision. It states that local educational agencies (LEAs) may consider the ECC when developing IEPs for students. This assessment is done by a TVI and specifically focuses on the nine areas of the ECC. It should highlight both your child’s strengths and the areas where they might need support. More on ECC later.
In general, children of this age are in a sensorimotor stage, according to Davis and Dr. Hommer. That means they begin exploring their bodies and their surroundings with their senses and their newfound mobility. For example, when a baby puts a toy in their mouth or a toddler squishes play-doh through a strainer, those actions are part of sensorimotor learning. Orientation and mobility training at this age builds on a child’s natural instincts and helps them fill in the gaps that sight would usually bridge. For example, a specialist might make sure that a baby’s crib is organized with one fluffy toy always on the right side for them to find and their pacifier always on the left side. By keeping the space organized and consistent, the baby or toddler learns to expect things to be in a certain place, which helps them understand the layout of the space.
Another exercise that an O&M specialist might do with a baby is teaching the baby’s caregivers to sing a song or introduce themselves with a phrase each time before touching the baby. That way, the baby learns to expect the touch, and they also learn to associate sounds with actions. Any consistent routine that a baby or toddler can be involved in, especially those that can utilize senses other than sight, such as laundry or dishes, are helpful for their development. Similarly, the specialist might touch various parts of the toddler’s body — hands, feet, head, etc. — and explain which body part they’re touching as they do so. Then they might guide the toddler’s hand to their own hand, foot, or head and repeat the name of the body part. That way, the toddler can learn their own body parts as well as identifying those of others by both touch and sound.
Finally, as children learn to walk, they can push toy shopping carts or strollers that can act as a buffer between them and the world around them. This also begins training for use of a white cane later on, according to Davis and Dr. Hommer. They can also use the Belted Pediatric Cane.
Besides building on the sensorimotor skills of earlier milestones, preschoolers are also ready to launch themselves into new territory of exploration and learning.
At this age, kids are ready to learn about landmarks and clues, and many are also able to start using a white cane and figuring out how it works as an object detector. Preschool-age children in general are rapidly developing gross and fine motor skills, which means they might also be ready to start being introduced to simple tactile maps and more complicated fasteners like zippers, snaps, and buttons. An O&M specialist works with each individual child based on their own needs, and at this age the kids can start vocalizing those needs themselves to their specialist. That means preschool skills can cover a broad swath. The American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults has some example goals for kids this age.
This is a time for growth and learning. Elementary school students master basic cane use and gradually gain independence through O&M training.
Kids at this age are generally also taught to navigate their schools, homes, and even local neighborhood parks or grocery stores that they frequent with their families. They’re able to do this by improving their use of the white cane as well as better understanding landmarks and contextual clues like texture, hills, slopes, and smells. By the time they finish fifth grade, they should be able to, for example, stop when they hear oncoming traffic, use a water fountain at school, stand in a cafeteria lunch line, ask their teachers for help when necessary, and understand that when they’re walking on the right-hand side of a hallway and others are passing them, those people are walking on the right-hand side from their perspective.
That kind of complex geographical awareness is paramount in order for them to be successful in the next step — middle school or junior high.
Much of the emphasis in middle school shifts to expand beyond physical skills and incorporate more mental concepts and problem-solving. This means that O&M specialists might focus on having the middle schooler create a mental map of their surroundings, learn to cross busy intersections, and navigate public transportation using a combination of auditory clues, landmarks, and communication with others. This is also generally a time when students can incorporate more technological aids into their learning process. We’ll dive into the available options in the device section later.
The high school O&M curriculum shifts again, this time toward independent living and/or college readiness. As Davis and Dr. Hommer explain, that means kids are taught to use their canes in all kinds of weather conditions, navigate unfamiliar as opposed to familiar spaces, create and apply tactile labels, develop an organizational system for the home and school objects, and develop their understanding of money and finances.
Commonly asked question: do kids with CVI qualify for O&M?
Cerebral/cortical visual impairment (CVI) causes issues with vision that don’t have to do with the eyes themselves. Instead, CVI impacts the pathways between the eyes and the brain as well as the visual processing centers in the brain.
If your child has CVI, it’s important that they take a CVI-specific assessment in addition to their O&M assessment. That way, their education team can fully understand the best ways to help them learn orientation and mobility while accounting for any special circumstances CVI might cause. For example, some kids with CVI have trouble using more than one sensory input at a time. That could influence an O&M goal involving using a white cane to step-walk while also listening for oncoming traffic and stopping when traffic is heard. Part of understanding CVI is understanding the different levels of sight a child might experience with the diagnosis. Each level, or phase, needs different accommodation and services.
It’s important to work with educators and specialists to craft specific IEP goals that incorporate all the information from CVI and O&M assessments to increase the learning opportunities and strategy efficiency for each child. To learn more about CVI in general, check out Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) 101 and Supporting a Child with Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) at Home, School, and in the Community.
When O&M services are written into an IEP, they are not limited strictly to a school setting. Still, O&M services are vital in the classroom. Specialists can help kids organize their desks or a drawer that is specifically designated for them in the classroom. They can also help students learn the geography of their school and make plans to travel from class to class during the day. Visual services, as opposed to O&M, will aid students in their classroom curriculum learning, but O&M will make it more possible for the students to stay independent and safe in their travel throughout the school and their interaction with their peers.
As Davis tells us, “The fun part about orientation and mobility is you don’t suddenly not need it at the end of the school day. So it is one of the services that we usually have permission through the district to teach some lessons at home and some lessons at school. And there are some vision conditions where this is absolutely necessary, because [how much a person can see depends on the lighting]. So there are vision conditions that when it gets dark outside or is starting to get dark, completely change how that student is able to interact with the environment. So what they need during the day or in a well-lit classroom might be very different from what they need in the evening, walking to the park or walking home from school.”
As Dr. Hommer tells us, not everything can be taught from inside a classroom. Some skills — especially ones like understanding traffic and how to safely cross streets — have to be taught out in the real world. You just can’t explain how cars move or what it looks like when one turns left or right without actually going outside and seeing it in action. That’s why O&M instruction is so valuable, she adds. It allows kids to be taught in real-life settings — on sidewalks, at intersections, in grocery stores — so they’re building skills that truly prepare them for everyday life.
Of course, the type of orientation and mobility expected at home is different than would be needed at school. When specialists work one-on-one with children at home — either because the kids aren’t yet school age or during the after-school hours — there are a variety of skills that can be focused on. For example, finding landmarks in the house is an effective way to help children learn to navigate independently at home. That can include memorizing the layout of the house, labeling doors or drawers with tactile markers, and knowing what direction each room of the house faces to increase awareness of cardinal directions.
Specialists can also work with kids at home doing things they might be less comfortable with in a public setting. For example, learning spatial awareness concepts like below and above or identifying parts of their own bodies.
Whether at home, at school, or out in the community, all of the O&M services and supports are relevant and utilized by the specialist to teach kids the key skills O&M focuses on. In the end, with this specialized training, children should be able to do the following:
Overall, O&M training is there to help people understand and safely travel through their world. Specialists understand that, and they will work with your child individually to help them achieve it in the way that works best for them.
As our kids grow into teens and young adults, O&M skills become more than just about crossing the street safely — they’re about navigating life. Whether it’s exploring a college campus, figuring out the bus route to trade school, or just picking out their own apples at the grocery store, O&M is central to becoming an independent adult.
For students with visual challenges, these skills don’t always come naturally — they must be intentionally taught and practiced. That means preparing early: thinking about how to learn the layout of a college campus, how to read a map, how to use GPS apps, how to ask for assistance in a store, or even what to do if they end up somewhere unfamiliar after a high school party. Real independence means being able to handle everyday things and unexpected ones.
Dr. Hommer tells us that high school is right when we’re thinking about independence a bit more, especially as kids start thinking about life post–high school. Here are a few key points to think about and talk to your child, their therapists, and IEP team about:
Knowing when to ask for help. “What if our kids want to go to the grocery store and pick out their own produce? What skills do they need to have to make a list? They have to be literate. They have to make a list. They have to be able to ask for help. Because even our adults who are blind, the majority of them go to customer service and say, ‘I need a shopper’s assistant. Here’s my list. Will you help me collect the things that I need?’ There are a lot of steps that get us to that point that begin immediately from birth; we need to build those skills so that when they get to that point, they either know how to use their technology to read a bus schedule or have the self-advocacy skills to call the bus terminal and say, ‘Here’s where I am; here’s where I want to go. What bus do I need to take to get there?’”
Having fun (safely). As Dr. Hommer tells us, “I want my older students to be able to do all the naughty things that typically sighted kids who are going to college do. I want them to be able to experience that and know how to recover. If I find myself in a space that’s not safe, or if I find myself in a space where I don’t know where I am, what skills do I need to have? What do I need to know to be able to get back to safety? Because we really need our kids to experience everything that happens in the world.”
Other helpful skills to learn include knowing when to call their mom or their friend, or how to call an Uber and give them their address and get back to where they need to be. “So all the typical things that we need for our kids to be safe, but we need to add in that extra piece for our kids with visual impairment to make sure that they have the skills that they can stop and say, ‘Shoot, I’m in this place that I don’t want to be. What steps do I need to take to get out of it?’ So it’s really a very intentional process for our students with visual impairment that lots of times our kids without visual impairment learn incidentally. And so we have to create situations that put them in an experience that will help them fine-tune those skills,” Dr. Hommer adds.
Kids growing up with O&M today have a variety of technologies and apps they can use to enhance their O&M skills and strengthen the ease and safety of their navigation. Plus, some of the options are just fun! The number of possibilities can be overwhelming, but we’ve broken down some of what’s out there into categories so you can see what might work best for you and your child.
From smart canes to tactile maps and AI-powered apps, there are tons of innovative tools designed specifically for individuals who are blind, have low vision, or are DeafBlind. We’ve rounded up a mix of high-tech and hands-on options — including electronic travel aids, tactile maps, and accessible navigation apps — to support safe, confident movement and orientation in all kinds of environments. For a full breakdown of each tool and app mentioned, head to our article Tech, Equipment, Apps, and More for Low Vision and Blindness.
How to use YouTube as an O&M tool
One place you might not think to explore is YouTube. Dr. Hommer tells us, “YouTube has some amazing videos for orientation mobility. Even if it’s not directly orientation and mobility, it’s about safety. How do I walk safely in my neighborhood? Those are skills that all of our kids need, regardless of a visual impairment, especially for our kids with visual impairment . . . . There are also YouTube videos on how to make a map or how to read a map . . . . So I would recommend for anybody who has a child that uses their vision to gain information from a two-dimensional target, like an iPad, or if the parents want the information on how to create activities that facilitate that skill, go to YouTube and Google it, because you’re going to get a lot.”
This list doesn’t cover all the options out there, but it should provide a place to start. Keep in mind, sometimes the basics are an excellent option. YouTube, for example, is a great tool for parents and kids alike. Dr. Hommer recommends looking there to find videos for kids, not just for specific orientation and mobility skill building, but for travel safety in general when it comes to walking around the neighborhood or learning to cross the street.
Since O&M is all about teaching kids how to navigate their world safely and independently, a lot of daily activities that specialists work on can be practiced at home. The most important thing, according to both Davis and Dr. Hommer, is participation.
“The number one thing that I can recommend is just involve your child,” Davis explains. “It doesn't matter what you’re doing. If you’re doing the dishes, have them help you put things in, have them help you rinse things in the sink, have them help you just understand the process of doing dishes. A lot of our students miss out on things like that because they’re across the room and they don’t observe somebody doing that. I learned how to do dishes by watching my mom do dishes. If you can’t do that, having somebody show you, having somebody involve you, is so important.”
For parents working on O&M skills with their kids at home, here are some other easy ways to incorporate O&M into an average day:
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