Orientation and Mobility Specialist
Orientation and Mobility Specialist Job Description
Orientation and mobility specialists work to help people with vision loss or impairment learn how they can move through their daily environment safely and independently.
Highly focused on individual cases, these specialists work in homes, hospitals, and schools with people of all ages, teaching visually impaired people how to confidently and successfully complete their daily tasks.
Responsibilities
People with low vision may need training in how to use technology like GPS to find their way to destinations, and an orientation and mobility specialist helps with that as well as instructing the blind in how to find locations at school or work.
They assist blind people in learning how to use guide dogs, and provide motivation and encouragement towards exploring and mastering new fields of activity.
These specialists may also work in a consultative role, helping architects, city planners, and traffic engineers to make buildings, intersections, and other areas more accessible and safe for visually impaired people.
They teach skills in the following areas:
Sensory development
- Help people maximize all of their senses to help them know where you are and where you want to go
Using senses with self-protective techniques
- Teach patients how to move safely through indoor and outdoor environments
Cane and Walking Tools
- Teach others to use a cane and other devices to walk safely and efficiently
Soliciting and/or declining assistance
- Help patients get comfortable asking for help when they need it, or doing things on their own when you don't.
Finding destination strategies
- Teach how to follow directions according to disability and use landmarks and compass directions
Mobility Techniques
- best practices for crossing streets, such as analyzing and identifying intersections and traffic patterns
Skills
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Physical Endurance |
Must be able to be physical for many hours to help their patients as needed. They must be able to bend, twist, lift, crouch, kneel, push/pull, and the agility to move quickly and ensure patient safety. |
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Record Keeping |
Must be able to collect and integrate patient histories to solve problems and develop treatments. |
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Emotional Stability |
Must be able to handle the emotional stress of working with impaired patients in need of compassionate health care. |
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Multitasking |
The ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously. |
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Interpersonal |
Must be able to interact with patients and their families regardless of background. |
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Reasoning |
Must be able to apply facts and principles to issues to determine conclusions and solve problems. They must use knowledge and logic to find patters in injuries and determine causes and provide solutions. |
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Communication |
Must be able to clearly convey thoughts and ideas to gauge patient's issues and convey to them the best path to treatment. |
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Empathy |
Must be compassionate and able to empathize with a patient's pain and other difficulties. They are able to make people feel comfortable and meet them at their emotional level to humanize themselves and let people know they care. |
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Patience |
They must understand it takes time to see results and be willing to put in that time. They also must help their clients have patience--especially if they are trying to overcome a difficult injury. |
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Problem Solving |
Must be able to use knowledge to gauge issues and determine the best route to autonomy. |
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Dexterity |
Must work well with your hands and be nimble. You will be put in situations where physical therapy is a must. |
Working Conditions
Orientation and mobility specialists facing challenging, highly varied working conditions due to the need to meet the requirements of extremely diverse clients.
Their work involves both one-on-one contact with clients while providing mobility teaching services, and offering professional consultative service to government agencies, hospital administrators, healthcare personnel, educational organizations, and others.
A specialist in this field is called on to work effectively in a range of settings – private homes, assisted living facilities, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and so on – while offering clients individualized, compassionate, and effective training in learning how to meet their unique mobility needs.
Patience and adaptability are indispensable and the mobility specialist must realize there is no “standard” job or set of solutions.
Orientation and mobility specialists work both indoors and outdoors and usually need to be in good physical condition, as well as good communicators.
Salary Outlook
| Estimated Annual Salary | Average Hourly Wage | Positions Nationwide |
|---|---|---|
| $53,000.00 | $25.48 | 115,000 |