Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist Provide therapy to patients with visual impairments to improve their functioning in daily life activities. May train patients in activities such as computer use, communication skills, or home management skills.
Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist is Also Know as
In different settings, Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist is titled as
- Certified Low Vision Therapist (CLVT)
- Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS)
- Mobility Specialist
- Orientation and Mobility Instructor (O and M Instructor)
- Orientation and Mobility Specialist (O and M Specialist)
- Rehabilitation Teacher
- Rehabilitation Therapist
- Students with Visual Impairments Teacher (TVI)
- Vision Rehabilitation Therapist (VRT)
- Visually Impaired Teacher (TVI)
Education and Training of Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist
Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Education Required for Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Degrees Related to Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist
- Bachelor in Occupational Therapy/Therapist
- Associate Degree Courses in Occupational Therapy/Therapist
- Masters Degree Courses in Occupational Therapy/Therapist
Training Required for Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist in different industries are
- Rehabilitation Counselors
- Occupational Therapists
- Occupational Therapy Assistants
- Recreational Therapists
- Occupational Therapy Aides
- Speech-Language Pathologists
- Mental Health Counselors
- Special Education Teachers, Kindergarten
- Physical Therapists
- Adapted Physical Education Specialists
- Psychiatric Technicians
- Physical Therapist Aides
- Physical Therapist Assistants
- Speech-Language Pathology Assistants
- Psychiatric Aides
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
- Special Education Teachers, Elementary School
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians
- Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
- Special Education Teachers, Preschool
What Do Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist do?
- Teach cane skills, including cane use with a guide, diagonal techniques, and two-point touches.
- Refer clients to services, such as eye care, health care, rehabilitation, and counseling, to enhance visual and life functioning or when condition exceeds scope of practice.
- Provide consultation, support, or education to groups such as parents and teachers.
- Participate in professional development activities, such as reading literature, continuing education, attending conferences, and collaborating with colleagues.
- Obtain, distribute, or maintain low vision devices.
- Design instructional programs to improve communication, using devices such as slates and styluses, braillers, keyboards, adaptive handwriting devices, talking book machines, digital books, and optical character readers (OCRs).
- Collaborate with specialists, such as rehabilitation counselors, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists, to provide client solutions.
- Administer tests and interpret test results to develop rehabilitation plans for clients.
- Train clients to read or write Braille.
- Teach clients to travel independently, using a variety of actual or simulated travel situations or exercises.
- Train clients to use tactile, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and proprioceptive information.
- Train clients to use adaptive equipment, such as large print, reading stands, lamps, writing implements, software, and electronic devices.
- Monitor clients' progress to determine whether changes in rehabilitation plans are needed.
- Write reports or complete forms to document assessments, training, progress, or follow-up outcomes.
- Develop rehabilitation or instructional plans collaboratively with clients, based on results of assessments, needs, and goals.
- Assess clients' functioning in areas such as vision, orientation and mobility skills, social and emotional issues, cognition, physical abilities, and personal goals.
- Train clients with visual impairments to use mobility devices or systems, such as human guides, dog guides, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and other adaptive mobility devices (AMDs).
- Identify visual impairments related to basic life skills in areas such as self care, literacy, communication, health management, home management, and meal preparation.
- Teach independent living skills or techniques, such as adaptive eating, medication management, diabetes management, and personal management.
- Recommend appropriate mobility devices or systems, such as human guides, dog guides, long canes, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and other adaptive mobility devices (AMDs).
- Teach self-advocacy skills to clients.
Qualities of Good Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Tools Used by Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist
- Adjustable task lamps
- Amsler grids
- Anti-glare visors
- Astigmatism wheel charts
- Bailey-Lovie Acuity Chart
- Bar magnifiers
- Braille embossers
- Braille label makers
- Braille laptop computers
- Braille personal digital assistants
- Braille writers
- Check writing guides
- Closed circuit television monitors
- Color discs
- Cone adaptation test sets
- Contrast sensitivity test cards
- Copyholders
- Dome magnifiers
- Envelope addressing guides
- Eye occluders
- Feinbloom distance charts
- Finger puppets
- Flashlight color filters
- Flashlights
- Handheld magnifiers
- HOTV charts
- Illuminated cabinets
- Illuminated magnifiers
- Large text keyboards
- Lea crowded symbol books
- Lea grating paddles
- Lea numbers 10-line distance charts
- Lea numbers 15-line distance charts
- Lea numbers near vision cards
- Lea single presentation flash cards
- Lea symbols 10-line distance charts
- Lea symbols 15-line distance charts
- Lea symbols domino cards
- Lea symbols Massachusetts visual acuity test format near vision screeners
- Lea symbols near vision cards
- Lea symbols playing cards
- Lea symbols single symbol books
- Long canes
- Medical measuring tapes
- Monoculars
- Near vision acuity charts
- Needle threaders
- Night scopes
- Penlights
- Piano glasses
- Plastic eye models
- Pointers
- Print readers
- Reading stands
- Rulers
- Signature guides
- Slicing guides
- Snellen eye charts
- Stacking rings
- Stand magnifiers
- Stop watches
- Tactile maps
- Worthmore four-dot test devices
- Writing guides
Technology Skills required for Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapist
- Ai Squared ZoomText
- Amazon Web Services AWS software
- American Printing House for the Blind Learn Keys
- American Printing House for the Blind Talking Typer
- Arkenstone Atlas Speaks
- Axistive BigShot Screen Magnifier
- Dolphin Lunar
- Freedom Scientific MAGic
- Internet browser software
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Visio
- Microsoft Word
- Operating system software
- Oracle Database
- Oracle Hyperion
- Oracle Java
- Oracle NetSuite
- Oracle PeopleSoft
- Python
- Ruby
- SAP software
- Workday software
- ZoomWare Screen Magnifier