O & M Training in Asia

In a July 2010 workshop focusing on orientation and mobility instruction for preschoolers and children with multiple disabilities, Perkins International trainers shared their expertise with educational leaders from India, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Indonesia. The training, which took place in India, stressed the importance of involving families in the orientation and mobility development of young children.

Namita Jacob, Education Specialist for Perkins International Asia/Pacific Region, said mobility instruction in Asia historically began with students who were six years and older but today there is a greater emphasis on early intervention.

“With the change in the population we are serving today, I saw this need in every one of the countries I’ve worked in,” Jacob said.

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Every student Paula Kosior teaches in Perkins Early Learning Center has a notebook that travels back and forth from school to home each day. The notebook details the orientation and mobility skills practiced that day, giving families an idea of what their children can do and how they can reinforce these skills at home.

Involving parents, she says, is crucial when working with the young children ages 3 to 6. How to engage families was one of many strategies Kosior offered international educators at a recent Perkins International orientation and mobility workshop in India. The professionals, she said, have experience working with older students and adults but were looking for guidance on the differences of working with younger children.

“We wanted to help them understand how orientation and mobility happens across a student’s day and that families are very important in the process,” Kosior said.

The orientation and mobility training was organized and co-sponsored by a Perkins International local partner in India, Voice and Vision, National Resource Training Center for Children with Visual Impairment and Additional Disabilities. The mission of Voice and Vision is to build leadership and expertise among educators and families of children with multiple disabilities.

Laurel Hudson, a certified orientation and mobility specialist and teacher of students with visual impairments, has been conducting Perkins International trainings for educators and families around the world for the past 20 years. Hudson, who previously teamed up with Kosior to lead a similar workshop in Vietnam, said another goal was teaching educators how to motivate and structure lessons for younger children.

“We talk about what mobility looks like for little kids,” Hudson said.

During the week-long training, Hudson and Kosior worked with a young child who is visually impaired and another child with a visual impairment and an additional disability. In both cases, the child’s family was consulted during the instruction and lessons specific to those children offered concrete, functional examples of orientation and mobility strategies to the participating professionals.

Participants at the training made their own pre-canes.

For children at these ages, Hudson noted, it is important to identify everyday obstacles in their environments and protective techniques they can be taught such as pushing a pre-cane or getting used to walking with their hands in front of them. A doorknob is a forehead height obstacle for these children, Hudson said as an example.

“Some of the developmental stages for children who are blind are different (than those of children who are sighted),” Hudson explained.

Participants had the opportunity to construct their own pre-canes and tactile maps. A discussion led by a panel of parents addressed how mobility affects families with young children who are visually impaired.

Kosior said she wanted to communicate the value of using a “kid-centered” approach and looking at what is fun and important to the particular child in order to create a functional and motivating mobility lesson. She also emphasized stepping back and allowing young children to experience supervised independent movement and exploration.

“I always look at what the student could be doing more and what I can be doing less because that is what fosters independence,” Kosior concludes. 

Read more stories on Orientation and Mobility in Perkins Insight.