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Orientation and Mobility(The following posts were culled from the DSSHE-L archives. Some editing has been done to consolidate space and exclude extraneous remarks, but no changes have been made the to content shown. Not all posts on a given subject are necessarily included here. Information about the date(s) of appearance and subject headings are provided for those who wish to return to the full archives to research this issue in more detail.) From: Aracelis This one has been beat I know, but what is the universities liability concerning O &M for a student. The student has had O &M already via VR services twice and the counselor states that after the training is adequate to meet his needs (!), obviously not since the student needs our assistance. I can understand at the beginning of each quarter having to assist someone so that they get reoriented. But I also understand that it takes a while to get oriented even for a sighted person. What is our liability for assisting the student in this? This is a personal service that we are not required to do so I feel that there is some liability but at the same time, we just can't leave the student wander and really get hurt either! Thanks! From: Robin K Smithtro I firmly believe this is a personal service. I was unhappy that my predecessor in this job gave a blind student sighted guide services to take him to each class. He milked it and didn't learn his way around until I finally (as an intern) said that was enogh and he needed to learn is way. I created a map for him that was tactile with braille labels. Then we did a few orientation sessions where I showed him routes on the tactile map and in person. At the beginning of each semester, he might get a little assistance learning his way to new classes or a new dorm room, but that's it. When I was student...(oh that sounds cliche)...my parents or friends brought me up a day or so early to learn the new routes. As for the map, I think this is really a good tool for most folks. Dont' forget that we technically need to make our maps accessible, too. If you don't have time or resources to get a tactile map made for you, you can do what I did for the blind student. I drew out a simple map of our small campus. (You might enlarge and/or trace a published campus map.) Then I used Elmer's glue (or puffy paint) to outline the buildings. I then smeared a little of the glue around to fill in the buildings so the map wasn't just lines, but actually allowed a person to feel the whole building as a filled in shape. Then I used a Dymo tape labeller to label buildings. Some students pick up orientation easily and want to know all they can. Others don't have that spatial ability and need to memorize routes, but have no concept of how they relate. I think it is a good practice to have a tactile map available and maybe have a guide show new routes each semester, but really, the best orientation is going to come from a specialist. Don't fall into the trap as we did of providing escorts all the time. This doesn't promote indepedence at all. P.S. I should mention that the student we had was in a catch 22 because neither his home state's VR, or our school's Commision for the Blind wanted to serve him because of his "dual residency" situation. So, no formal O&M specialist was available to him unless he'd paid for it. I think that the reason the guides were provided. Being a cane traveller at that time myself, I was able to assist him in learning routes (e.g., "when you find this light pole on the edge of the side walk, you'll need to angle 45 degrees this way" and "follow this curb until it ends, then turn up the ramp into th building"). +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: Marcia Carlson But do be aware that there are some folks who will never be able to learn to use a map for orientation (and this is not limited to those who are blind or have a visual impairment). Yes, we do need to make maps accessible, and the geography/cartography community is doing a lot of research in this area. Some of the research includes looking at why some people are "spatially disabled" - they get lost easily and have great difficulty in following directions from one location to another. Again I emphasize this includes sighted people. The research is looking at how people blind from birth who do have spatial awareness got it (since most of us learn spatial awareness by using our vision. The issue is, some folks will learn a route by rote memory and if anything along the route is changed (e.g., a construction project forces you to walk in a path made in the street instead of the sidewalk, although it is in the same direction - just a blip from the usual path), the person may become disoriented and lost. The person in this situation may be sighted. And there's another facet in this discussion - some autistic people will become lost or disoriented if their path changes slightly. There are no easy answers. I believe that the college or university has some responsibility in showing a blind student the basic route - orienting the student to classroom locations, for instance. On this campus, we may do a re-orientation in the middle of a semester when a construction project or an unexpected event alters the students usual path of travel. But the student should have to be shown only once or twice, and that's it. Beyond that, it becomes a personal assistance issue. It may well be that those with spatial difficulties cannot manage on large campuses. There may be some individuals who cannot manage moving from place to place alone. These individuals may be otherwise unqualified to be in the post- secondary setting. Marcia From: jhill Robin, thank you. This was very valuable information. I have had several experiences. Last semester we had a student who received O&M at my suggestion. She was a veteran and DAV paid for it. I had another student who did not want O&M so I sent my student assistant with him for a trip around on campus on two different occasions and that is all he needed. Never thought about the tactile map. He lost his vision at age 14 so relied more on his sense of direction and senses such as please make sure you give me thr right direction because I use the sun on my back, face, etc. The other student was a sporadic attender and could never find her way anywhere (low vision) no matter how many times we gave assistance. I guess my call on the matter would be as it was with the first student who received O@M: if there is a threat to the person's safetey from always falling down, I would push for O@M as I did. If there was no other agency to pay and the student refused to pay, I would justify personal services as a one time thing to protect the liability of the University in the event of a fall.. A half dozen sessions at $50/hour is cheaper than a lawsuit but I would make it clear that it was a personal service, I was not setting a precedent and it was not so much a disability issue as a campus safety issue. Just my opinion. From: Dan Miller O & M I do have a word of caution about these services. I utilize certified people to do all the work in establishing routes and practice. I am a strong believer in that being able to care for one's mobility is a personal issue, although we in the postsecondary must oversee the process. For liability purposes, the standard is certified personnel. We have used sighted guides in the learning process. Honestly, some will never be any good at mobility--largely due to the type of blindness that destroys the "visual spatial" function in the brain. I even have worked on a policy statement that requires students to be able to manage their own needs for locomotion. I have had several students who were either totally blind and CP to the point of experiencing great problems. It can become a safety factor. Dan Miller From: Jim Marks Orientation and Mobility belongs to the world of rehabilitation, not accommodation. Sure, we have the obligation to orient students regardless of whether they see or not, but we don't have to train them on how to move about campus. I think having schools involved in providing O&M is a bad idea because it gets us into deeper waters than we may realize as well as wasting money that could be spent on legitimate accommodations. I hope folks won't mind, but I believe two things --- sighted guides and safety ---deserve a little more of our attention in this discussion. It is respectable to use a sighted guide, just as it is to use a cane or a dog guide. But it isn't the schools' responsibility to provide these devices for mobility. We don't buy canes or dogs, why should we pay for sighted guides? Caution ought to be exercised by disability service staff in making judgements about whether a blind student is safe to walk about campus. Safety issues are very, very hard to separate from negative preconceived notions about blindness. We run the risk of custodialism which is public enemy number one for the blind. I don't know about the other blind people on this list, but a professional concern over my safety isn't nearly as effective in changing sloppy O&M skills as is a little pain. (Grin) I think we should check safety judgements and replace them with judgements about whether the person is otherwise qualified and let the liability stuff alone. If we have to do something to mitigate liability, then let it be making a referral to your state's vocational rehabilitation program for the blind. Jim Marks From: Robin K Smithtro I think Jim is right. Pain is a great motivator for learning to or getting out and using that cane or dog a student may not be using. My shins still flinch! Likewise, I don't know enough about liability and what REALLY is a legal threat, (I think people are just to litigious for my taste these days), but I've seen a larger number o sighted or non-disabled folks getting injured. Around here, I've gotten white lines painted on concrete step edges and I hear more sighted folks telling me how helpful there are. We've also had a sighted Vice President fall down a set of steps before the white lines got on. Are we liable? Hmmm... I'm not sure, but where is the line? Could that VP have sued the college and won? What about if it was a visually impaired student. The way I try to look at thing on our campus (obviously biased by my own visual disability) is with a common sense rule of whether ANYONE could get injured. For example, we had the "athestically pleasing" new step and sitting area designed in front of the student union building. There were steps right next to this tiered concrete sitting area, and if you weren't looking carefully, anyone could easily step off the top tier thinking it was part of the steps that ran next to it. Because I saw this as a safety hazard for ANY person on campus (expecially in rainy weather where the step edges aren't as visible) I got the grounds crew to put planter boxes along that top tier so that it draws visual attention for the sighted and is an obstacle for cane users or others with poor depth perception. No injuries so far! We've also put up fencing around all construction areas, not just caution tape. Students fly around this campus at all hours and what is easily seen in the day, may not be at night, so I try to keep the physical plant thinking about good markings for potentially dangerous areas. Robin +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From: jhill Thanks for your response Jim. I brought up the liability issue. What would you do if student is not a voc rehab or DAv as the student I mentioned? From: Jim Marks Hi, One of the rules of thumb I've heard about which helps sort out accommodations from personal services is whether the action is needed regardless of whether the person is a student or not. If the need applies only to school, it's an accommodation. If it is universal in a person's life, it's a personal service. As such, I guess I think wether a blind student is eligible for VR is irrelevant. O&M is something which is universal in a blind student's life. If the blind student isn't competent to get around campus, they almost certainly can't get around nearly anywhere. Campuses offer no greater challenges than do shopping malls, social gatherings, and other places in which people travel freely. I would refer the student back to VR and step away from coordinating O&M services. The question about what to do with blind students who aren't eligible for VR is a worthy one, but a bit puzzling. It's puzzling because O&M is rehab. I don't understand why someone who can't get around on campus would not be eligible for rehab. By virtue of the O&M deficits, VR eligibility ought to be presumptive. Perhaps there should be more advocacy here with the rehab agency. Good O&M training involves way more than the techniques of swinging a cane. It has much more to do with a confident and positive attitude about blindness. One can just get an injection of O&M and have everything turn out fine. O&M takes a long while if it is going to be effective. In fact, I would urge all to consider the liability question in light of adequacy. A short spurt of O&M training might be inadequate, and consequently increase institutional liability. But I wouldn't worry too much. Liability isn't much of a concern so long as the referral to rehab has been made. If a blind person can't independently travel on campus, then that person requires rehab services. Disability services staff in higher ed ought to presume blindness in and of itself presents no barrier to independent travel. When the person can't get about, they may not be otherwise qualified. That's the bad news which, although at first glance may appear cruel, ultimately is in the best interests of the blind person. Remember that yesterday I said custodialism is public enemy number one for the blind. Today I'm not sure about this. Maybe low expectations is number one. This isn't meant to be offensive. Blind people ourselves often carry more low expectations for ourselves than do the sighted. I just think we need to examine what presumptions we carry regarding blindness. I believe blindness is ordinary and expect the blind to compete in higher ed just like everyone else. I agree with the others on the list who talked about orientation and safety steps, though. Randy's and Robin's advice is particularly good. Maybe it is even a good idea to contract with a qualified O&M to oversee some access issues. However, producing accessible maps, providing tactile signs, and other accommodations don't necessarily require the services of an O&M. Schools have to weigh the pros and cons, and then make decisions about this for themselves. Again, I feel strongly that lines need to be drawn between rehabilitation and accommodation. It isn't matter of minimalist approaches to civil rights compliance; it's what's in the best interest of blind students and everyone else. As a side note, I received a private e-mail from another person on this list which questioned my commitment to the good of the students we serve. The poster said, in effect, there's nothing wrong with going that extra bit for students. I agree. But sometimes saying "no" is in the best interests of the people we serve. Jim Marks NOTE: (This thread was culled from the archives by Charley L. 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