Orientation & Mobility training is the centre of our organization. In order to be eligible for a Guide Dog, many blind persons will need to undergo Orientation & Mobility training.

Orientation & Mobility is part of Rehabilitation: teaching the blind to live with vision loss. Orientation & Mobility teaches the person how to use their remaining senses to travel safely and live more independently.

Specifically, Orientation is the process of using the senses to understand one's position in the environment. Good Orientation training will lead to increased Mobility, or, the ability to move and function safely and efficiently in the environment.

Most of our beneficiaries lost their sight later in life; the loss of confidence that often results means that quality Orientation & Mobility training is crucial. In order to be eligible for a Guide Dog, the blind person must be fairly mobile and travel independently. Thus, Orientation & Mobility training is an important first step for many blind persons to get a Guide Dog.

The process of Orientation & Mobility Training is complex and tailored exactly to the client. The basic process goes thus:

1. An initial assessment: the trainer will assess how mobile and independent the person already is. The trainer will interview the person, asking them questions such as:

• Where do you currently travel to independently?
• Where would you like to be able to travel to independently?
• What are your goals?
• Have you ever considered a Guide Dog?

The trainer will also assess their medical history and visual acuity. The initial assessment will also involve one or two sessions in which the trainer can assess how well the person functions in the environment. This may include things like:

• Intersection Analysis: the person’s ability to determine which way to travel safely at an intersection.
• Problem Solving Ability: the person’s ability to get themselves out of problems like going off-route by mistake.

Once the initial assessment is completed, training in specific Orientation & Mobility skills will begin.

2. Orientation & Mobility lessons: the instructor will use the initial assessment to begin training the person. Most of the training is done according to the person’s needs and where they want to travel. The training process may cover areas like: how to use an escalator; how to safely cross streets; how to get public assistance; how to create their own sequence of landmarks, among many others. Orientation & Mobility is complex, and covers a divserse ares of skills related to functioning in the real world with visual impairment, skills which the sighted often take for granted.

While our eventual aim is for our beneficiaries to get a Guide Dog, not all will be eligible. Even so, Orientation & Mobility training will help them to lead more independent lives.

To find out the process of getting a Guide Dog, click here.

To find out how you can support our efforts, click here.