Orientation and Mobility Specialist

About the Role

Assists students who are blind or visually impaired achieve maximum independence through instruction in safe, efficient travel within the home, school, and community by developing an orientation and mobility program specific to individual student needs.

Responsibilities

• Participates in the referral and assessment process of visually impaired students.
• Conducts evaluations of the orientation and mobility needs of visually impaired students.
• Develops appropriate IEP goals and objectives, and Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) outcomes.
• Compiles, maintains, and files all reports, records, and other required documents to include but not limited to inputting evaluations, daily session notes, progress reports, and maintaining documentation for Medicaid Billing, as necessary, into the KISD informational management system.
• Prepares and maintains a database of referrals and evaluations for each assigned school.
• Organizes and implements orientation and mobility services and supports which address goals and policies.
• Provides direct instructional orientation and mobility services to students with visual impairments and consultation to school, staff, peers, and community as per IEP.
• Orders, distributes, and maintains canes and low vision devices related to travel.
• Collaborates with vision teacher and other instructional and/or related services personnel.
• Consults with and advises school personnel on design and provision of safe efficient environments.
• Obtains additional or supplementary information from appropriate persons, agencies, and/or available records.
• Makes recommendations for orientation and mobility services and refers for other services as appropriate.
• Coordinates services and provides information to school personnel and community agencies.
• Provides on-going information for administrative personnel regarding orientation and mobility services and implication for student placement.
• Recommends any modifications to program or specialized services needed based on the visual impairment.
• Participates in ARDC and IFSP meetings as appropriate.
• Complies with all legal and ethical guidelines of the Orientation and Mobility Code of Ethics.
• Consults with home and school personnel and outside agencies regarding needs of individual students.
• Receives and records initial referral information and requests.
• Integrates current professional knowledge and skills into orientation and mobility services and supports.
• Provides direct instructional services to student with a visual impairment in evaluation areas.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Rehabilitation Science or equivalent with emphasis in Orientation and Mobility.
• The Academy for Certification of Vision, Rehabilitation and Education Professionals Certificate.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence.
• Ability to speak effectively before staff, students, and parents.
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals.
• Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.
• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

Physical Demands

• Regularly required to talk or hear.
• Frequently required to walk and reach with hands and arms.
• Occasionally required to stand, sit, use hands to finger, handle, or feel, and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• Occasionally lift or carry 45 pounds or more, position students with physical disabilities, control behavior through physical restraint, assist non-ambulatory students, and lift and move adaptive equipment.
• May work prolonged or irregular hours.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, and ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment

• Frequent district-wide travel to multiple campuses as assigned.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually quiet/moderate.