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gads, Belinda, that sounds SO frustrating and SO unfair!? My first thought is to wonder "how can these people, who serve B/VI people, be so ignorant and cruel!??!?

And then I remember, *I* thought the same as them!? After more than 30 years of helping people who are blind / visually impaired do things that most people thing requires vision, such as crossing streets . . I turned around and assumed they couldn't teach O&M because that would require vision.? Because that's the way that I teach O&M!

Well, Belinda, you're joining a HUGE huge HUGE group of people being discriminated against unfairly.? The only consolation is that in 30 years you can look back with pride at how you handled it . . . one by one.? Convincing employers and supervisors . . . one by blasted one.? Just know you're not alone, generations of blind O&Ms before you and probably after you went through the same thing.

I'd love to hear from Michael Byington, I think he's been a visually impaired O&M long enough to know discrimination -- possibly even from me, if he goes back far enough!? Michael, how'd you deal with it?

Meanwhile, Belinda, don't let it get you down, don't let it convince you that you aren't capable.? That's probably the hardest obstacle to overcome -- believing in yourself.

I once met a young blind American woman in China, who was sent there on a Fulbright scholarship (don't know if that's an American thing, but it's a BIg Deal -- awarded only to the brightest and most capable).? I asked her what it was like to be in China and she almost teared up, saying how hard it was to maintain her self-esteem in the face of discrimination she encountered there.? I asked her to write about it, which is .

So don't let this mess with your self-esteem and confidence.

Love,

Dona

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?Thank you Dona, as usual you are providing very useful information. I applaud you in your advocacy efforts and supporting ways for inclusive training. Thank you.

I also like your website in that it is presented in a way to be easy to read for all users. I do find it odd in my contact with people in the?BLV?fields where they provide materials (regardless of audience) that are clearly inconsistent with WCAG eg, non screen readable, poor contrast.

Yes, Australia does seem to be at least 30 years behind in these matters particularly low vision. There are a few drivers for this including the change in funding for BLV services in Australia from government block funding to organisations to plan based funding to individuals. ?Blindness organisations are funded through their service providers (O&Ms, OTs, ATS, etc) meeting a 65% of billable hours target. There are no residential services only itinerant services in dynamic environments generally from the clients home. I have been told by several O&Ms in Australia that in the USA?BLV?people only deliver services in residential settings and not dynamic new environments. I know this is not true but that is the narrative they tell.

To give you an example of one of the barriers, every supervisor I have had has told me I will not have time to do a review of a route prior to visiting a client. This is despite myself advising that a route review by myself is a reasonable adjustment and a must for me to do. I am consistently denied. This makes me very uncomfortable (and nervous in real time) in supporting a client for their route travel because it does not give me the opportunity to the thematically analyse the environment and consider how best I would deliver the service as someone with low vision. The only vision impaired COMS in Australia does not drive, uses public transport and has told me that they exceed the billable hours target and are still able to do a good route review. So yes discrimination and ignorance. I also believe in Australia there is a gendered intersectionality lens compounding.

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I have been very much aware of lack of LV services in Australia and thus addressing needs. So why we established Bioptic Drivers Australia in 2017, including the website/socials/media. This is my life’s work and why I am studying and seeking to certify to become COMS… to build on Chuck Huss’s COMS work for the Australian context.?

In attempting to complete the 350 hours required by ACVREP I have driven 30,000 km in seven months in regional and city across several boarders ACT, NSW, QLD, VIC. Never had an accident. One manager said I’ll be doing the majority of my placement by Telehealth and for any physical visits would only let me book a client where another employee was visiting that area so they drive. Of course they’d never say it’s because I’m a bioptic driver they didn’t want me driving on their work time. That took months to resolve. I had an O&M supervisor tell me I must wear my bioptic at all times when with clients, then to ask me what is a bioptic. Another tell me in detail their ‘what if‘ views why low vision conditions mean not able to consistently ensure a clients safety when crossing roads. Again months to address and many attitudes driving behaviour without resolution. I’m pleased to read the adjustment examples at this link including using a support person.?

I was also pleased to learn that there are courses in the USA that video their students delivering O&M. This is something I would welcome and will suggest. Yet, the real issue is the instructor‘s subjectivities in determining what actions (or lack of) result in maintaining safety (or not). And if not, how that is explored and addressed.

As it seems, BLV students and the university and supervisors alike don’t know what kind of adjustments may be employed, it does seem relevant that the material at these links are shared broadly in Australia.

The only LV COMS in Australia worked for one of the large blindness agencies for over 10 years and then set up their own business. This person is very well respected and has a considerable client base and works with other independent COMS to deliver group travel days. Yet, I’m told by O&Ms there were issues and concerns when teaching that person and the teaching model now is very different (less adaptive and more complex). In addition to myself there are now two other LV students studying the course to become an orientation and mobility specialist. I have been told both students have been seeking reasonable adjustment supports without resolution. So yes, whilst I am seeking ways to convince colleagues and supervisors that I could be capable, I and the other students can only benefit from the advice of those who have forged the path before us. And there seems to be quite a bit of experience in the USA to draw from.

I’m very much open to more discussion on these matters.

I am particularly interested in hearing from people with low vision who are COMS or working to be COMS.

I also welcome direct emails if you do not want to have the discussion open with the group.?

Best Regards,?

Belinda

On 7 Aug 2024, at 1:33?AM, Dona Sauerburger <dona@...> wrote:

? <sigh> Belinda, I hear ya about having supervisors and even O&M colleagues who have doubts that someone with low vision (or no vision) can provide for the safety of their O&M students.

Strategies for people with low vision to teach O&M vary - but I wonder if you’re really looking for ways to convince colleagues and supervisors that you could be capable? ?

That was a HUGE problem here in the U.S. about 25-30 years ago. ?I remember O&Ms on this listserv saying they would never allow their supervisor to hire a blind instructor (presumably they’d quit if that happened). The O&M Division of AER would not certify O&Ms who didn’t have normal vision and, long after blind instructors were certified, programs and supervisors (including our government agency, the Veterans Administration) had policies that their O&M instructors had to have normal vision.?

So perhaps Australia is now facing the same struggle with this problem. ?Collecting a list of strategies that people with low vision use might be helpful but in my experience, that’s not going to be enough. ?The ignorance and discrimination itself needs to be addressed.

I was one of the leaders of the O&M Division of AER at the time, and we:

* had leaders present at a general session at our conference with 2 blind certified O&M specialists explaining how they taught, and answered questions and concerns?

* had a newsletter column that featured O&M instructors including two who were blind?

* approved a position paper supporting blind O&Ms (Mark Richert and I drafted it - he was executive director at the time)

There was also a “point / Counterpoint” in JVIB about O&Ms with disabilities (??)

I think it’s safe to say that by now, several DECADES later, we’ve finally arrived at the stage where O&Ms who are blind or have low vision are accepted by the profession, but I assume that they have the same problems with discrimination by prospective employers that all people with visual impairments face - the employers need to be convinced that they can do the job.

— Dona

—————————

Dona Sauerburger, COMS

Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist for the blind

On Aug 6, 2024, at 8:33 AM, Belinda O'Connor <beloconnor@...> wrote:

?

Hello orientation and mobility brains trust!

I would be grateful for a discussion with individuals who can provide me with advice about strategies O&M instructors (COMS) with low vision would use to maintain the safety of their clients when delivering itinerant services particularly new travel routes.

I am also interested in the feedback that students would receive from their placement supervisors as to what it means to maintain client safety. How that is addressed through university/ COMS (ACVREP) assessment criteria to determine if/ when a student has met competency.

Obviously, I understand and affirm an orientation and mobility instructor must be able to demonstrate they can maintain the safety of the client. However there seems to be a very broad application of what this might mean. Is there any assessment done prior to a vision impaired person undertaking a course to determine if they can maintain a client safety? (Not from what I’ve read) If there has been an incident where it is perceived a clients safety may not have been maintained, how is that addressed? (There seems to be anecdotal stories)

Currently I am undertaking postgraduate study in Australia to graduate as an orientation and mobility specialist and subsequently to sit the COMS exam.

I was born with low vision and am a bioptic driver for over eight years.?

In Australia, we only have one person with vision impairment working as a COMS. We have had only a handful of other vision impaired people who have attempted to become an orientation and mobility specialist. However, in my discussions with some of them, some supervisors and university staff, there seems to be a general consensus that vision impaired people are not able to maintain the safety of clients. To me this seems to be a lack of familiarity of how things can be done and are being done.

Your insights would be greatly appreciated please?

Note: I have read the recent study and been in contact with Dr Griffin-Shirley and Dr Bradley Blair. I’ve also been reviewing Dr Sauerburger’s work on road crossings.

Best Regards,?

Belinda O'Connor - DLI
Churchill Fellow 2022 "The NRMA - ACT Road Safety Trust Churchill Fellowship to identify success factors and barriers for low vision and telescopic glasses driving”?
Bioptic Drivers Australia (BDA)

Email:?beloconnor@...
LinkedIn:?
Blog:?

I acknowledge that I live and?work on Ngunnawal?Country?of the Kulin Nations and pay?my respects to First Nations?Elders past?and present.?Sovereignty of the lands and?waters across the continent?has never?been ceded, and?this is and always will be?Aboriginal and Torres Strait?Islander land.

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