Orientation and Mobility is service provided through South Central ServiceCooperative for children who are visually impaired throughout the region. The service focuses on helping students of all ages who are blind or visually impaired to travel safely and efficiently through their environment. A certified O&M Specialist evaluates each student in their travel environments and helps to plan individualized lessons to reach goals determined by the student and their family.
The programming may look different depending on the age and needs of the student. For a toddler with a vision impairment, that might mean using protective hands while trailing (following a wall with a hand) to get from their bedroom to the living room. In the case of an elementary student who is blind, it might mean using a white cane to travel routes throughout the school and neighborhood and learning to cross streets safely. A high school student with limited vision might learn to use the public transit system to travel from home to a store, make a purchase, and travel back home again. When high school senior with limited vision is planning to go to college, it may mean learning how to navigate a college campus.