Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Mobility instructor qualifications (self.Blind)
submitted by DrillInstructorJan
Hello
Is it possible for someone who's blind to get any sort of qualification to do mobility training in the UK?
I posted about this recently, but I was asked to be a mentor to people who have recently hit sight loss. It's been great, but I have also done little bits of cane training. I only do this because all three of the people I have met have been very resistant to it and it is so helpful. I'm not trying to get them to become mountaineers but often they are at the point of not leaving the room unless they're on someone's arm and if we can get past that, that is progress.
All the same I have no qualifications to do it. Everyone I have spoken to about this has said that the only way to become an orientation and mobility instructor is to do a three year degree. I don't want to become a full time O&M, I'm not teaching the stuff they would and I don't have time for a three year degree.
I am pretty happy that based on my now twenty years of experience I'm not endangering anyone, but is there some sort of course I could do, that is actually doable without sight, that would set me up a bit better for this? If I can avoid involving RNIB I will but I'd put up with it if necessary.
Jan
Is it possible for someone who's blind to get any sort of qualification to do mobility training in the UK?
I posted about this recently, but I was asked to be a mentor to people who have recently hit sight loss. It's been great, but I have also done little bits of cane training. I only do this because all three of the people I have met have been very resistant to it and it is so helpful. I'm not trying to get them to become mountaineers but often they are at the point of not leaving the room unless they're on someone's arm and if we can get past that, that is progress.
All the same I have no qualifications to do it. Everyone I have spoken to about this has said that the only way to become an orientation and mobility instructor is to do a three year degree. I don't want to become a full time O&M, I'm not teaching the stuff they would and I don't have time for a three year degree.
I am pretty happy that based on my now twenty years of experience I'm not endangering anyone, but is there some sort of course I could do, that is actually doable without sight, that would set me up a bit better for this? If I can avoid involving RNIB I will but I'd put up with it if necessary.
Jan
CloudyBeep 3 points 3y ago
Blind people can become qualified in O&M, but you will need to undertake the full course to be recognised. Having lived experience is useful, but you only know how a person with your combination of vision impairment and lifestyle lives, whereas a qualification will equip you with the knowledge to teach anyone. Teaching O&M without a formal qualification would be like someone who knows a foreign language thinking that they can competently teach that language to someone else, or for an actor who plays a doctor on a medical drama to be a doctor in real life.
KillerLag 2 points 3y ago
Part of the training involves knowing other things involved. For example, when I do assessments, I often check about other health conditions as well. If someone has diabetic neuropathy in their feet, it reduces their sensations in their feet, which can cause an increase in trips as well not feeling drop offs or slopes.
The weird thing about the degree is, different places have different lengths of time. I did it in a compress year, so it was a bit insane, but that program since got moved to University of Montreal to become a two year program.
You may also want to check if they offer apprenticeship programs. My own organization has started that recently, but you also get formal training as well as on the job training.
The weird thing about the degree is, different places have different lengths of time. I did it in a compress year, so it was a bit insane, but that program since got moved to University of Montreal to become a two year program.
You may also want to check if they offer apprenticeship programs. My own organization has started that recently, but you also get formal training as well as on the job training.
DrillInstructorJan [OP] 1 points 3y ago
I take your point about comorbidities though I guess I would be unlikely to end up working with anyone whose experience was completely different to mine. I don't think I'd be asked to do it, and I certainly wouldn't choose to. If someone came along who had severe diabetic retinopathy my reaction would be that I simply don't know enough about that stuff and decline as nicely as I can, I can't imagine they'd even do that in the first place. I was cautious about talking to someone with RP, even. I have the same problems with braille and guide dogs neither of which I know the much about and I have had to be very clear about that in the past.
Maybe I'm just looking for someone to say "you're fine carry on." It might just be familiarity breeding contempt but I don't think I need to do a one, two or three year degree to go over the basics of cane travel with otherwise healthy people. I is frustrate.
Jan
Maybe I'm just looking for someone to say "you're fine carry on." It might just be familiarity breeding contempt but I don't think I need to do a one, two or three year degree to go over the basics of cane travel with otherwise healthy people. I is frustrate.
Jan
KillerLag 1 points 3y ago
Comorbidity is more common than you think, although not everyone talks about it. For example, Charles Bonnet syndrome (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_release_hallucinations). Depending on which studies, the statistics for that can range from 10% to 40% (the most recent one I know about from 2016 suggested it was 20% https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26874151 ).
One big issue is that people don't like to talk about it, because they don't want others to think they are crazy, so they hide it. Other times, the client may not realize something is an issue (mild cognitive impairment or dementia or memory loss), which may not be immediately noticeable but problematic later. For example, I taught someone how to cross the street using an APS (Audible Pedestrian signal), and explained how it worked and what the signals meant. The next time I met with someone, they attempted to cross when the signal had traffic in front of them going, and I had to intercede. When asked why she did that, she said that is when I told her to cross (when I didn't). She definitely had memory problems, but she didn't realize it.
I want to be clear, I am not saying it is impossible to teach O&M without formal training. But formal training does give you the tools and techniques that have worked, as well as variations for when other issues come about. It is the same idea as providing CPR. Doing something is often better than doing nothing, but getting training on the proper way to do CPR may be better.
It may also depend on the nature of your clients. The majority of my clients are elderly (probably 95%), where other issues are common. I also end up working a lot with people with addiction and mental health issues (almost three dozen suicide/self harm clients, and in one case having to call emergency services because a client was attempted to commit suicide while I was in the room).
One big issue is that people don't like to talk about it, because they don't want others to think they are crazy, so they hide it. Other times, the client may not realize something is an issue (mild cognitive impairment or dementia or memory loss), which may not be immediately noticeable but problematic later. For example, I taught someone how to cross the street using an APS (Audible Pedestrian signal), and explained how it worked and what the signals meant. The next time I met with someone, they attempted to cross when the signal had traffic in front of them going, and I had to intercede. When asked why she did that, she said that is when I told her to cross (when I didn't). She definitely had memory problems, but she didn't realize it.
I want to be clear, I am not saying it is impossible to teach O&M without formal training. But formal training does give you the tools and techniques that have worked, as well as variations for when other issues come about. It is the same idea as providing CPR. Doing something is often better than doing nothing, but getting training on the proper way to do CPR may be better.
It may also depend on the nature of your clients. The majority of my clients are elderly (probably 95%), where other issues are common. I also end up working a lot with people with addiction and mental health issues (almost three dozen suicide/self harm clients, and in one case having to call emergency services because a client was attempted to commit suicide while I was in the room).
DrillInstructorJan [OP] 1 points 3y ago
The three people I worked with were all under 20 and had basically no medical problems other than sight loss. I won't describe them all as it would make them a bit too identifiable but one of them is case of very fast and aggressive RP who went from realising there was a problem to light perception in a year. That's especially nasty given that the period of going from having central vision and being able to function fairly normally, to not having that, was a matter of a few weeks. But it was very obvious that one of them had serious mental health problems which I knew was way out of my league to deal with and referred it back to my medical contact.
I personally get intermittent images of incredibly bright lights (like staring into a car headlight from a foot away) which is horrible and makes it difficult to concentrate on anything, sleep, etc. I don't know whether to call that charles bonnet or what. It's not objects it's just lights. There is no fix for it and not really anything you can take, I just take migrane relief for the resulting splitting headache. It is nasty but it has become less common over the years.
I personally get intermittent images of incredibly bright lights (like staring into a car headlight from a foot away) which is horrible and makes it difficult to concentrate on anything, sleep, etc. I don't know whether to call that charles bonnet or what. It's not objects it's just lights. There is no fix for it and not really anything you can take, I just take migrane relief for the resulting splitting headache. It is nasty but it has become less common over the years.
KillerLag 1 points 3y ago
The light doesn't sound like Charles Bonnet, it is usually more benign objects (monkeys, brick wall, etc). The few times it has been a major issue I've come across was someone who kept seeing boxes in his hall, and another person who kept seeing cliffs in front of him (and with mild dementia, so he got confused easily).
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