Okay, one thing, among many, that I love about my career, is that I get to witness achievement with clients who may be a bit more hesitant and discouraged with orientation and mobility travel as blind adults.
We have an excellent instructor who has dedicated 5+ years to our agency, and he provides some of the most empathetic and engaging training that I have ever seen in rehabilitation for individuals with visual impairments.
I’ll break this down in a few words.
O & M training revolves around teaching someone how to use a cane, how to listen to traffic at street corners, traveling in various environments and terrains that may be difficult to someone unfamiliar with traveling as a blind person. it’s a very in depth area of compensatory skill training for our line of work.
I witnessed a client, who generally, is dependent on others for assistance, take the initiative for themselves to travel from one part of the property outside the building, back to the front door by themselves. This is without any help at all.
Some may see this as harsh outside the realm of our overall goal and objective with being in rehab, yet, independence. Without fail, it’s the destination. Creating scenarios that require that individual to think outside the box, be on their feet, and attain enough information of their surroundings to be able to conduct themselves on their own. That’s important.
So, in closing…
Strive for those uncomfortable places. They reveal growth. Don’t take this statement seriously. I don’t mean, go out and willingly step on broken glass. Fight the fear and walk around it.
Lot’s of love.
Tony