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Programs

Orientation and Mobility for Working-Age Adults (O & M)

Curriculum
Program Costs
Financial Aid

Orientation and mobility (O&M) is an exciting discipline in low vision and blind rehabilitation that teaches people to travel safely, efficiently and independently in their environment. Orientation is the process of mentally organizing the environment and determining one’s location within that environment. Mobility is the act of moving through the environment in a safe and graceful manner. An orientation and mobility specialist teaches people who are blind or visually impaired to travel by:

• assessing an individual’s current travel-related skills, discussing goals, and helping her/him select a program of instruction that will allow for achieving the greatest travel potential
• teaching people to travel by using their hearing, remaining vision, and other senses
• teaching people to use a long cane for travel and to establish and maintain orientation while traveling.

O&M specialists work with people across the lifespan: from infants to senior citizens. The majority of clients on an O&M instructor’s caseload tend to have some remaining vision. It is also common to have clients with additional disabilities such as traumatic brain injury, hearing impairments, physical impairments, or cognitive impairments.

There has been a national shortage of orientation and mobility specialists for several years. Individuals willing to relocate generally have little difficulty in finding employment. O&M specialists may work in schools, at agencies for the blind or visually impaired, at Veteran Administration (VA) Medical Centers, and at universities and colleges. Many O&M specialists, after gaining experience in the field, contract to schools and agencies as part of their own private practice.

Orientation and mobility is a profession of highly trained, caring individuals who are committed to providing the best service to each client and who are committed to a professional code of ethics. Many professionals in the field are members of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER) and are certified by the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) which are professional organizations that govern the field.

If you are interested in being involved in this dynamic field, please apply online at http://www.wmich.edu/hhs/blvs/Admissions_Applications.htm

For more information about the OMA program, please contact Catherine Wall Emerson at Catherine.emerson@wmich.edu or at 269-387-8476
  
For information about the Orientation and Mobility Program for Children, please contact Dr. Annette Skellenger at Annette.skellenger@wmich.edu or at 269-387-5944

If you live outside the United States and are interested in our program, please apply through The Diether H. Haenicke Institute for Global Education:     http://international.wmich.edu/

Curriculum           

Students preparing to become orientation and mobility specialists enroll in courses totaling 37 credit hours. This includes a practicum and an internship that provide professional field experience with mentors. Full time students who attend on campus may complete the program in one calendar year (fall, spring, summer I, and II). We also offer a distance education (DE) program for people who already have significant experience in the field of blindness and low vision. Upon application to the program, the admissions committee decides on the suitability of the DE option for the prospective student.

Students graduating from the program earn a Master of Arts degree and meet all of the requirements for certification by the ACVREP in O&M. The program includes preparation for the successful completion of the national certification examination. This exam is necessary for certification and will be taken via ACVREP.

The following is a chart that lists the courses for the Orientation and Mobility for Adults program. Here is a link to course descriptions. 

Practicum (BLS 6950) and internship (BLS 7120) information:

The practicum occurs before the internship and is 60 hours in length. It takes place during a semester. The student will be assigned practicum hours at a school, agency or VA center and will generally complete five hours of practicum per week. Both the practicum and internship are approved by a university supervisor. At no time does a student contact an agency for a practicum or internship without the approval of the internship coordinator.

Internships are 15 weeks in length and are considered to be full time, unless approval for a part time internship has been granted by the internship coordinator.  Communication between the intern and the supervisors is essential and evaluations of the intern are considered important for the continuation of an internship. Please note that internships may be suspended, terminated, or lengthened at the discretion of the university based on feedback and observations of the student by the supervisors.

Program Costs

Find Tuition Fees here.

 

Student Fees:

Application fee: $40.00
Records Initiation fee: $300
Liability Insurance for BLS 6950 and 7120: $8.00 per course per semester
BLS 7120: $300 fee for agency visit
Graduation Fee: $45.00
Books are estimated at $600.

Financial Aid

http://www.wmich.edu/hhs/blvs/financial_aid.htm

Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professional (ACVREP) exam www.acvrep.org

Employment Prospects

www.spedex.com
www.aerbvi.org (Must be a member of AER to access Job Exchange)

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