Orientation and Mobility

Orientation and Mobility, or O&M, is a profession which focuses on instructing individuals who are blind or visually impaired with safe and effective travel through their environment. Individual O&M specialists can work for schools, government agencies or work as private contractors. The Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) offers certification for vision rehabilitation professionals in the United States. Orientation and Mobility, or O&M, is a profession which focuses on instructing individuals who are blind or visually impaired with safe and effective travel through their environment. Individual O&M specialists can work for schools, government agencies or work as private contractors. The Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) offers certification for vision rehabilitation professionals in the United States. Orientation and Mobility training began after World War II when techniques were developed to help blind veterans of the war. Soldiers who had been blinded in battle were sent to recuperate at Valley Forge Army General Hospital before entering Avon Old Farms Convalescent Hospital, the U.S. Army's former experimental rehabilitation center for blind soldiers in Avon, Connecticut. In the 1960s, universities started training programs for Orientation and Mobility specialists who were to work with adults and school-age children. In the 1980s, the O&M field recognized the benefit of providing services to preschool-aged children and began to do so. Today, O&M specialists have developed strategies and approaches for serving even younger populations so that O&M training may begin in infancy.