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ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY
Children who are blind or visually impaired need special training to teach
them how to travel independently. This training is called orientation and
mobility. Orientation covers knowing where you are, where you want to go, and
how to get there. Mobility is the actual physical process of getting from one
place to another. Your child should receive mobility training with an O and M
specialist. There are many thing you can do to help your child. You are your
child’s first mobility specialist.
When your baby has been active in his/her crib and suddenly becomes quiet and
motionless it may mean that he/she is listening carefully to the sounds around
him/her. This the time to begin to help your baby associate sounds with people
and object.
Children need variety. Don’t leave your child in a playpen or crib for long
periods of time. Carry them around with you. Have your child touch, hear, and
smell lots of different objects. Have your child reach out for objects that make
pleasant sounds; for example, a rattle, a ball with a bell, etc. This reaching
to sound usually occurs at 10 to 11 months, but may vary greatly with special
children.
Once your child is crawling allow him/her to explore, first in the playpen,
then in their room, and then in the entire house. Leave a favorite blanket or
pillow to be discovered. Leave toys hidden inside a favorite blanket, maybe in
another room.
If your child is walking, there are many ways that you can help his overcome
fear and become comfortable and safe in a variety of situations. The following
are suggestions of things you can do to enhance your child’s orientation and
mobility.
When walking with your child rather than holding hands, extend your finger
down and have your child hang onto it. Later your child may hold your wrist and
eventually your arm.
FOUNDATIONS OF ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY (Second Edition)
Written by Editors: Bruce B. Blasch, William R. Wiener, Richard L. Welsh
A Approximately in the range of 6-18 months old.
B Approximately in the range of 12-36 months old.
C Approximately in the range of 3-6 years old.
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SKILL |
A: INFANT |
B: TODDLER |
C: PRESCHOOLER |
| Concept of turns/accurate turns |
Make distinct turns (not curves)
when carrying or walking with infant |
Continue
making distinct turns when walking together. When walking together have a
word or signal that you say or do whenever you make a turn to help the child clue into the fact that a
difference in the movement is occurring.
Show child the difference between "turn" (90*), "turn around"
(180*), and "turn all the way around" (360*). Try to be
consistent in your use of these terms.
Play (modified) "Mother May I" by asking the
child to make one of the above turns (gross approximations), and if done
correctly they will "find" you in front of them-reward with hugs,
tickles, etc.
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Continue with
previous activities.
Play a game where the child is the "driver"
and you are the "car," and you turn whenever the child tells
you to (or makes motion as if turning the
steering wheel).
Talk about how turning changes the direction you are
traveling-put items in front of the child and to the side he/she will be
turning, and show how the relative location changes.
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| Analyzing traffic sounds and
patterns |
Take infant to a variety of
areas with different levels of traffic. Be sure to include area with
high levels of traffic. Provide time to listen to the traffic and
become used to it.
Help child to localize and reach for sounds-start with
hand-over-hand, then physical assistance from shoulder, etc.
Use a sound maker that can be activated by hitting it
and encourage child to make it sound each time he or she is correct. |
Help child to learn to turn
to face sounds.
While standing next to a street, talk about
"loud" and "quiet" sounding cars.
While standing next to different types of streets, ask
the child to tell when there are cars on the street and when there are no
cars.
Talk about the different sounds made by "fast"
cars and "slow" cars-play games with cars and act out going fast
and slow, read stories about vehicles that go fast or slow.
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On a quiet street, talk about
how the sound of the car is quiet, then gets louder as it approaches, then
gets quiet again.
As child demonstrates ability to localize sound, help
him to point to and follow movement of car along the street. Do this
first on a quiet street, then on busier streets.
As child demonstrates understanding of spatial concepts,
show child how traffic moves from in front to behind you when you are
standing with the street beside you, and how traffic moves from side to
side when you are facing the street.
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| Compass orientation
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Begin to incorporate compass
terms into your daily vocabulary-if possible, use them when giving
directions to others or to describe locations of items in the house, etc. |
Identify three or four key
locations in the house (or school) and refer to them with labels in
compass term- i.e., call the front door the "east door" (or
whichever direction it faces), talk about the clothes rack being on the
north wall.
Play games to teach and practice basic spatial concepts,
specifically "in front" and "behind."
Teach child about opposites-use physical movements as
much as possible, i.e., the opposite of "stop" is
"go," the opposite of " up" is "down," etc. |
Continue with previous
activities.
Play a game of "detective"-take the child to
locations in the house that you have been identifying with compass labels
and see if he or she can tell what it is (what direction it is associated
with).
When walking between labeled compass locations, talk
about how you need to turn to get from one to the other. As child
demonstrates understanding of spatial concepts of "in front" and
"behind," talk about north being in front of you when you are
walking toward the north clothesrack.
As child demonstrates understanding of opposites, talk
about north and south being opposites and 11 when north is in front of
you, south is behind you." |
| Public transportation |
Plan periodic family "field
trips" -instead of driving downtown to go to the park at the
outskirts and take a city bus, or take a cab to the grocery store
occasionally. |
Continue family "field
trips" -talk with student about what transportation you will take,
read a story about the type of transportation, play games with toy models
of the type of transportation. |
Continue family "field
trips"-give the child responsibility for portions of the trip, i.e.,
have him or her hold the money and hand it to the bus driver as you get
on, have her ask the bus driver to tell when you are at your stop. |
| Mapping skills |
Accustom child to wide variety of
tactual materials help him or her to explore/ scan the entire item. |
Provide child with a magnetic or
Velcro map board -encourage him or her to make designs with the pieces.
Walk in a hallway carrying mapboard and as you walk from
one end of the hall to the other, place magnets in a longer and longer
line going away from child's body |
Play a game with the child where
you place a magnet on the board and he or she tactually searches for it
using appropriate search patterns.
As child is able, play the above game and have the child
tell where he or she found the magnet on the board (i.e., "near the
top and hear the right side").
Help to child learn to make magnet lines that go all the
way "across" the board or "from top to bottom. "
As child is able, continue as above, but also examine an
intersecting hallway and place magnets to show the intersection. |
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