Orientation and Mobility Curricula:

• TAPS: An Orientation & Mobility Curriculum for Students with Visual Impairments - This curriculum is primarily intended for students ages 3 to 21 who are blind or who have low vision. It is appropriate for students who also have other disabilities and can be used in all settings.

Orientation and Mobility Resources (see all):

• The Art and Science of Teaching Orientation and Mobility to Persons with Visual Impairments - For aspiring o&m instructors as well as classroom teachers of children with visual impairment, special education teachers, rehabilitation teachers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, nurses and aides to these professionals.
• Concept Development for Visually Handicapped Children: A Resource Guide for Teachers and Other Professionals Working in Educational Settings - This guide offers a framework for concept development for children who are visually impaired from kindergarten on.
• English/Spanish Basics for Orientation and Mobility Instructors - A teaching aid for orientation and mobility instructors to supply the vocabulary that instructors might use to teach students in Spanish.
• Foundations of Orientation and Mobility - A presentation of the origins, history and present state of orientation and mobility. This text is an effort to express in one volume much of the background information considered relative to mobility training along with how this information is useful to mobility specialists.
• Finding Wheels: A Curriculum for Nondrivers with Visual Impairments for Gaining Control of Transportation Needs - Finding Wheels has 10 units containing objectives for nondrivers, supporting information on the topic, and a list of suggested activities for nondrivers to further explore the topic. Scenarios of adolescent and adult nondrivers and low vision drivers are used throughout the curriculum to illustrate key points and the variety of options available for nondrivers.
• Hand in Hand: Essentials of Communication and Orientation and Mobility for Your Students Who Are Deaf-Blind. 2 Vols. - These materials are designed to provide basic knowledge and skills regarding the effects of deafblindness on instruction and interaction, strategies for instruction and interaction, ways to assist staff members and families working with students with deafblindness, detailed information on the development of communication and orientation and mobility skills, discussion of important concepts such as transdisciplinary teaming and ecological models, and lists of resources.
• The Hill Performance Test of Selected Positional Concepts - This is an individually administered test designed to assess specific positional concepts with visually impaired children ages 6 through 10. It consists of 72 perdformance items divided into four parts.
• Independence Without Sight or Sound: Suggestions for Practitioners Working with Deaf-Blind Adults - This is a book about method and techniques for teaching deafblind people as well as an integrated study of the needs of deafblind people. There are numerous examples form actual experience and discussions of practical applications.
• Orientation and Mobility Techniques: A Guide for the Practitioner - This book is an attempt to collect and codify the techniques used in orientation and mobility instruction. It is intended primarily for the practicing orientation and mobility specialist. Classroom teachers, rehabilitation teachers and other professionals will find certain sections of the book valuable when used under the direction of a qualified orientation and mobility specialist.

General Resources for Orientation and Mobility Professionals

• Major Services Provided by Mobility Specialists - Hundreds of sites specific to the needs of O&M Therapists.
  
• Medicare Coverage for Orientation and Mobility Services - As this article is being written, a five-year national demonstration project to provide Medicare coverage for orientation and mobility (O&M) and other vision rehabilitation services is under review by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and is scheduled to begin in early 2006. Under the demonstration project, qualified O&M specialists and other vision rehabilitation professionals will be able to provide medically necessary services to Medicare beneficiaries under the general supervision of an eye care physician, and these services will be reimbursable by Medicare. (The specific sites for the demonstration project have yet to be determined.) Services may be provided either in a professional facility or in the client's home and environs. This is a huge step forward in the longtime quest for third-party health insurance coverage for the services of vision rehabilitation professionals.
• The Role of the Orientation and Mobility Teacher in the Public School - Orientation and mobility (O&M) is an important and integral part of the curriculum in the comprehensive delivery of services to children with visual impairments in the public school settings.
• The Importance of Orientation And Mobility Skills For Students Who Are Deaf-Blind - Orientation and Mobility (O&M) instruction provides students who are deafblind with a set of foundational skills to use residual visual, auditory and other sensory information to understand his or her environment. For the child who is deaf-blind, movement is an opportunity to gather sensory information, to communicate, and to make choices.
• Applying for ACVREP Certification-A Step by Step Process - Before you apply for certification, you must first determine the discipline in which you are interested in seeking certification. ACVREP certifies professionals in Low Vision Therapy, Orientation and Mobility, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapy (formerly Rehabilitation Teaching).
• Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) - ACVREP's mission is to offer professional certification for vision rehabilitation and education professionals in order to improve service delivery to persons with vision impairment. ACVREP is committed to quality certification programs that meet rigorous recognized standards. Programs are designed to offer certificants the means to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and professionalism."