Work Integrated Learning (WIL):
Reflections on Learning
My placement at Vision Australia, Gold Coast (Robina) commenced in June 2024 and continued part time until April 2025. Below are some reflections on the sessions I observed or delivered during my WIL placement. I’ve aimed to capture a diverse range of encounters and learnings.
Client catchment.
My placement at the Robina office at the Gold Coast, under my supervisor, Senior O&M Specialist, Daniel Ong, put me in a client catchment that spanned as far north as Coomera, QLD, south to Ballina in NSW, and as far east as Kyogle, NSW.
​
The majority of clients in this catchment were retirees aged 60+ living in urban areas like the Gold Coast, however I did get the opportunity to visit clients who lived in rural areas in the Gold Coast and Tweed Coast hinterland and Mt Tamborine in the Scenic Rim area.
​
My attendance supporting Vision Australis staff during their school holiday programs allowed me to observe and work with some younger clients aged between 6-18 years, and occasional school visits diversified the demographics of my client base.
​
While I did have a handful of clients from Culturally Diverse backgrounds, I look forward to working with more people from non-English speaking backgrounds in the future.​
Facilitating Independence, Dignity, Liberty.
1 July 2024
The very first O&M assessment I observed in my WIL placement was for a 70-year-old woman with advanced Stargardts Macular Dystrophy, declared legally blind in the 1990s, whose visual acuity was light perception only in both eyes. She had the support of her husband, and while very competent in all activities of daily living and physically fit and active, she was concerned about her growing social isolation as she was finding it increasingly difficult to travel outside her home, particularly as she had relocated from interstate. She loved to walk and explained that she and her husband had a daily habit of walking through the park together. Introducing her to the long cane was my first WIL placement instructional session, and after a few assisted and semi-solo laps of her building’s recreation courtyard, I suggested she do a lap solo while myself, my supervisor and her husband waited at the starting point. She seemed a little surprised at the idea, but was enthusiastic to give it a try.
She vanished through the garden, then behind the building, and we waited.
On her return to our little group, we had this short exchange:
​
Me: When was the last time you took a walk on your own?
Client: That’s the first stroll I’ve taken, entirely by myself, in more than 10 years.
Me: How did it feel?
Client: It felt really good.
​
It was a simple conversation, and while I cannot speak for the impact it had on the client, I can honestly say it made a huge impact on me. As someone who loves to walk, who needs solitude, and is ardently independent, the notion of not being able to enjoy a walk alone, feels outright oppressive to me. The client was walking alone and unsupervised, for not more than four minutes.
​
For me, those four minutes represented freedom and dignity in action. I was profoundly moved when I reflected on this; how something as simple as time alone, to walk, in silence and safety could be so incredibly precious, and so easily taken for granted.​​​
​
Caption for Image above: This printed message was found on the running track at UNSW Kensington, as you travel towards the School of Optometry & Vision Science Building.
Scanning Card Game.
30 July 2024
For clients with cortical vision loss, such as hemianopia or quadrantinopia, this game serves as a simple way to practice systematic visual scanning to encourage new visual habits. A deck of ordinary playing cards, with the jokers removed, are shuffled and laid face-up on a table in spread of 13 columns 4 cards high.
Gameplay is as follows:
​
-
All Ace cards are removed from the spread, revealing 4 gaps or spaces.
-
The player must then commence the game by systematically scanning each row of cards, starting top left and moving right to the end of the top row, then dropping down to the second row and scanning their gaze to the left until reaching the end of that row, dropping down to third row, and scanning right, and so on, until they have found the ‘gap’ where the removed card was.
-
The player notes the suit and value of the card to the LEFT of the gap, and commences searching the spread for the card of next highest value in the same suit (For example, in the top row of the photo above, the card to the left of the gap is the Seven of Spades, therefore the player must search the spread for the Eight of Spades)
-
The player commences their search at the same top left corner of the first row and must follow the same systematic pattern of searching until they find the required card.
-
Upon finding this card, they player picks it up, and must place it in the gap next to its numeric/suit neighbour, using the same systematic scanning techniques starting always at the top left corner.
-
To increase difficulty, when a gap is created next to a King card, the King is laid horizontally to create additional visual complexity to the spread.
-
This game has no ‘end’ or ‘win’ moment and can be played for any duration of time.
-
The object of the game is to habitualise systematic scanning techniques so that clients can search visually complex or cluttered areas (supermarket/pantry shelves, road crossings) using a reliable method. The more accustomed the client becomes with using this method of scanning the more efficient and safer they’ll be using their vision.
​
School Visits.
A sudden and dramatic adjustment was needed on my part to absorb the alien world of preschools, childcare centres, and primary schools. My first observation was how loud these environments are. Immediately, I could empathise how, for a child with low vision, being surrounded by a constantly changing, extremely noisy atmosphere would be confusing, exhausting, and overwhelming. A common report by teachers and other therapists working with these children (some with multiple learning challenges) was how they could be ‘stubborn’ and unwilling to participate in group activities, preferring to stay in their own spot and do a solo activity. O&M sessions in school time usually involved taking the student away from the classroom to a quiet area and practicing outdoor routes.
​
It led me to consider the benefits and drawbacks between education facilities specialised for certain groups (previously ‘residential schools for the blind’) and mainstream education’s integration of children with additional needs. It also highlighted the limited time available for O&Ms to work with children. If O&M skills are not reinforced in the home by the family of the child, then children can be at a disadvantage when having to learn O&M skills inside an already demanding schedule of full-time study, social and extra-curricular activities.
Deterioration.
16 August 2024 - 19 November 2025
I had become accustomed to consider ‘deterioration’ in relation to a client’s level of functional vision, and how O&M skills are employed as the client becomes progressively more dependent on their other senses.
The unconscious expectation I had was for a client to generally improve, over time, with their O&M skills. What I had not consciously accounted for was how aging clients, or those with complex health issues, regardless of their level of vision, can experience a decline in other areas – such as physical strength/dexterity or cognitive function – that can impair or render obsolete their O&M training.
In one example a client in her mid-to-late 60s, learning long cane so she could walk to her nearby shops solo, needed her O&M program to be drastically altered as her cognitive capacity, mobility, stamina and strength declined requiring her to start using a support cane, then deteriorating further to need a wheeled walker, and on occasion a wheelchair.
The client’s capacity for independent travel had almost vanished within 12 months, and the focus of her O&M training shifted from outdoor/community travel to navigating inside her home.
​
This experience was perhaps the most sobering lesson I encountered during my work placement. I was reminded that regardless of any personal disappointment I might feel for a client’s situation, I was required as a professional to remain focussed on finding solutions and adapting my services to bolster their current capacity with a balance of positivity and sensitivity for their changed circumstances.
Preparation for Dog Guide Assessment.
4 November 2024 - 19 February 2025
Clients frequently had questions about dog guides, and there seems to be a number of misconceptions about how a dog guide is used and the limit of their capabilities. People might assume the dog comes ‘pre-programed’ and are a canine version of Google Maps navigation. Clients can forget that dogs can bring unwanted attention, or can be denied access to private property or facilities.
​
A client with severe Bilateral Macula Dystrophy (with a visual acuity of hand movements only at 3 metres) had recently started using a long cane. He purchased online a Korean telescopic cane and taught himself how to use it from YouTube videos. This client is a good candidate for a dog guide as he is active, already travels independently in the community and is seeking employment opportunities.
Our program with this client aimed to give him long cane training, in preparation for a dog guide assessment. We identified certain travel habits that will need to be changed (e.g. taking short cuts, limited confidence with road crossings) to give him the best possible likelihood of a favourable outcome for the dog guide assessment, and dispelled some myths about dog guides.
Caption for Image above: Bindi, the dog guide of a Vision Australia staff member, rests next to my lunch box, at Tallebudgera Creek, during a school holiday program for young clients.
Environmental Assessments:
Hills International College.
22 November 2024
Caption for Image above: a curving concrete staircase with no contrasting strips visually blends into a flat or sloping plane.
Caption for Image above: The school basketball and assembly area. Note how the wet concrete is reflecting light and shadows making it difficult to discern if the slab is flat or has steps or ledges.
The four images on the right were used in the Environment Assessment report sent to the school, illustrating two examples from within the school, of how contrast strips on stair edges can improve safety.
The first pair of images shows the 'before' and 'after' photo of a terracotta tiled stairway in the school first without a contrasting strip, then with the yellow strip applied. ​The second pair of images shows another 'before' and 'after' comparison for a grey concrete stairway.
When assessing a client, my supervisor might ask them, “Describe to me what it’s like on your worst day”, and this notion came to mind while observing an Environmental Assessment of a private school, as the rain pelted down making our travel through the grounds and buildings feel very much like we were doing it under the worst of circumstances.
Grey concrete stairs without any contrasting edge strips blended into the grey water-slicked concrete paths, dull-coloured pillars along awning-covered outdoor corridors blended into the grey slashing rain or tree trunks and gardens beside it. The rain proved to be a useful tool, however, to force our touring party to use only the paths and thoroughfares that students with access needs might typically travel as terrain in the open spaces and lawns was filled with less predictable obstacles, or made orientation difficult.
Although not used during this assessment, I could see how bringing a variety of low vision simulators for the school staff to wear while doing the tour, could powerfully demonstrate how useful and important modifications to the school grounds can be for a low vision traveller, and improve safety for everyone at the school.​​
Tactile Map
4 February 2025
A 70-year-old client, with light perception only in both eyes, uses a manual wheelchair to move between her bedroom/office, ensuite bathroom, and the kitchen/dining area of the home she shares with her sister. The client finds she frequently gets lost in her home surroundings, not knowing whether – when in the corridor – she is facing towards her bedroom or towards the kitchen. The client has also become ‘stuck’ in her ensuite, unable to find the exit to the room.
​
To help build this client’s mental mapping of her home, a tactile map was suggested. After taking reference photos of her bedroom, ensuite and adjoining living spaces I made a sketch of the floor plan.
​
After some experimentation with different craft materials (puff paint, hot glue gun, pipe cleaners, paddle pop sticks) I found a combination that I believed made a logical depiction of the rooms. Tactile dots were used to represent wet areas like sinks and showers, paddle pop sticks for walls, puff paint lines to distinguish desks and closets, round satay sticks to replicate the wooden cylindric railings used in the corridors to guide her into her room, soft fabric to represent her bed, and so on. Detail on the map was intentionally limited to allow important features of the room to be easily recognised.​
I designed two tactile maps, the first showing the client's bedroom and ensuite, and the second showing the corridor that links her room to the kitchen, as these were the two main areas the client frequents during the day.
I designed each map on a separate board, so that they could be used independently, or overlapped to demonstrate how the two areas are connected. If the client wishes to expand her path of travel within her home, additional boards could be made to extend from these two maps and illustrate other areas of the house.
Long Cane Intensives & Using Interpreters.
Periodically, Vision Australia offers two-day intensives to new long cane users as a way to fast-track their cane travel skills in an environment that also allows them to meet other cane users and share experiences and perspectives about living with low vision/blindness. I attended a number of these two-day intensives and was paired with a client based on how their learning needs would challenge and develop my own learning needs as an instructor. Sometimes these intensives were attended by people whose first language was not English and interpreters were required to pass on instructions and facilitate questions between O&M Specialists and clients. Unfortunately, circumstances were such that I did not have time to brief the interpreters I was working with about the overall goals for the session and how they might effectively assist both the client and myself.
​
For one intensive, I was paired with woman in her 60s who spoke Mandarin. She was learning English and had a basic level of comprehension, but her conversation skills were still rudimentary. She had a different interpreter on Day 1 to Day 2. Neither of these two people were accredited language interpreters, but rather dual-lingual individuals who could perform basic language interpretation. I noticed the dynamic between the client and her interpreter were different on different days, and I can only attribute this to some of these observations:
​
Day 1 interpreter:
-
Same age and gender as client (60 years).
-
Native Mandarin speaker, also fluent in English.
-
Known to client from her community (perhaps a friend?).
-
Disengaged/distracted with her phone during some of the formal presentations given.
-
Related to the client as a peer.
-
Had a ‘big sister’ or ‘protective’ energy in relation to the client.
-
Seemed familiar enough with the client to touch her, or move/pull her out of the way without requesting consent.
Day 2 interpreter:
-
Younger than the client (20 years).
-
Native Mandarin speaker, also fluent in English.
-
Not known to the client (provided by a support service organisation)
-
A professional disability support worker, with experience in Aged Care.
-
Related to the client as a service provider.
-
Asked the O&M Specialist for clarity/specificity with elements of a new skill or task.
-
Had her own questions about cane techniques and sought to understand the concepts for herself.
-
Invited the client to ask questions/make comments and relayed those questions to the O&M.
-
Did not touch the client.
On Day 1 the client seemed reserved, rarely speaking, and quite tentative when practicing a new skill (moving up and down stairs).
On Day 2 the client was talkative, offering comments and asking questions throughout the day unprompted. On Day 2, the client was also markedly more intrepid, enthusiastic to try tasks (using escalators) that were more challenging than Day 1.
I share these observations to reflect on how a client’s attitude and learning progress may be affected by the people included in the session, in this case, the presence/influence of an interpreter can alter client outcomes or participation significantly.
Travel Days
Vision Australia offers regular travel days throughout the year for Blind/Low Vision people. As described by Bashir Ebrahim OAM, Orientation and Mobility Service Lead - Access Consultant at Visio Australia:
“The Travel Days are designed to help people who are blind or who have low vision to explore and learn about their city and develop their confidence in navigating around it. They support participants’ goals of improving independence and social inclusion for people with a disability. They encourage participants to follow-up on what they discover, and continue to use the transport systems and explore the city’s many features.”
[reference: Vision Australia News 23 August 2023]
​
Attending a number of travel days with other O&Ms in the Vision Australia team gave me valuable insights to how long cane and dog guide users navigate crowded public spaces, where to locate features on public transport and other public infrastructure that provide support for people with access needs, and perhaps best of all – spend a full day in the company of Blind and Low Vision travellers and experienced O&Ms, learning about their life experiences, challenges and victories.
​
I was fortunate to join the following travel days and observe well-practiced long cane users explore new places:
-
Brisbane CBD at night, including Queen Street Mall, Cultural Centre and Southbank Parklands.
-
Gold Coast light rail network, with exploration of the Broadbeach shopping and Kurrawa Beach recreation precinct.
-
Toohey Forest at Mt Gravatt, trialling rough terrain canes on bush walking tracks and picnic areas.
-
Brisbane Domestic Airport and Airtrain link, familiarising travellers with airport renovations.
Caption for Image above: Travellers wait in the shade at Kurrawa Park, Broadbeach, as I take a sneaky selfie.
Caption for Image above: Standing on the Skywalk bridge that connects the Airtrain to the Brisbane Domestic Airport, Travel Day participants, Vision Australia O&Ms, and Brisbane Airport staff circle-up to introduce themselves.
Video teaching.
2 February 2025
A reflection on my first session conducted over video conference: The client with Retinitis Pigmentosa lives in the rural Tweed Coast hinterland, and after an in-person assessment, her long cane had been posted to her and her ‘Introduction to Long Cane’ session was conducted via Teams meeting. Some challenges included:
​
-
Client’s learning environment. We had to stop frequently for the client to secure her pets in another room as they were interrupting the session.
-
No manual/physical demonstrations. Not being able to physically demonstrate or manually correct a client’s grip, hand position or posture meant a 100% reliance on clear, very specific, verbal instructions and descriptions. It became apparent that trying to demonstrate with my own teaching cane through the screen was ineffective, and ultimately diverted my attention away from the client and my capacity to isolate what component of her technique needed correction. Once I refocussed solely on watching the client via the video call and inviting her to stand or move with her cane in various positions (so I could see her profile, or watch her walk) I was better able to identify the corrections needed.
-
Limited capacity to view client performance: Without a ‘camera person’ at the client’s location, the Teams meeting was conducted via the client’s laptop that was positioned on her kitchen bench. While this position was adequate to see the full length of the client standing, and capture her movements within the 3 or 4 metres of the frame, it did not allow me to observe the client take a longer walk using her cane down a hallway and thus it was hard to be certain that correct arc-width was being maintained throughout her travel.​
Despite these challenges, the video session was valuable to ‘keep up the momentum’ of the client’s O&M training (she was a reluctant long cane adopter), giving her some basic skills and concepts to practice at home ahead of her face-to-face training. Happily, the client reported that after this single video session she felt the immediate benefit of using her long cane as it allowed her to keep her gaze up and forward while moving through her home.
Caption for Image above: A repeating photo of the "Vision Impaired Harlen Doll" found in the VA Robina office. This is not a simulation!
Bundu Basher/Rough Terrain Cane Training.
4 February 2025
As a student O&M I found the variety of cane tips fascinating, and the Bundu Basher (BB) seemed one of the more ‘specialised’ and therefore, less frequently prescribed tips. For this reason, I felt extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to instruct a client to use his new Bundu Basher. But first, I had to do my own technique refresher. A vacant paddock not far from the Robina office of Vision Australia was my training ground to become comfortable using the BB and consider how to introduce this aid to the client.​​
Helpfully, this client is a keen golfer. After moving to his rural property, he had – without any guidance – been using an old golf club as a make-shift ‘paddock long cane’ – for when he was navigating the wilder areas of his property. Intuitively, he had been sliding the club head on the ground in front of him in a ‘snaking motion’ that was very similar to the technique needed for a Bundu Basher. Because the client already uses a long cane, I was able to use O&M terminology that the client understood to reinforce the similarities and make distinct the differences between the use of his long cane and the BB. Concepts like grip, midline, speed, posture could be easily transferred to his use of the BB, and because of his ‘golf-club/paddock long cane’, he picked up very quickly the correct way to move the BB through grass, over rocks, tree roots, and explore or detect hazards in rough terrain.
​​
Mobility Aid Adaptations: Upright Walker
17th February 2025
Who doesn’t love a visit to Bunnings Warehouse? And who knew that pool noodles were an excellent O&M resource? A client who lost almost all her vision very suddenly, uses and upright walker to travel within her home. She also has Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Brittle bone condition), and was therefore very concerned about potential falls or collisions she may have resulting from her loss of vision. To train this client on how to use her upright walker as a ground preview/obstacle detection tool, pool noodles were temporarily fixed to her walker, creating a ‘bumper bar’ to a) test her reactivity when detecting obstacles with her mobility aid and b) to protect her walls and furniture from collisions with the walker. Cable-ties were used to secure the pool noodle to the legs of her walker.
​
Pool noodles are surprisingly easy to cut through to make custom-lengths, and being hollow they grip or hug railings and edges well, often without adhesion. Sections of pool noodle were wedged onto furniture (table edges, desk legs) and doorjambs or corners to mitigate the client’s concerns about injuring herself on these items.
Critical Assessment of Achievement in the
Seven Clinical Practice Competencies
1. Communication & Professional Relationships.
I had clear expectations, and felt confident to develop and maintain productive relationships with my professional colleagues at Vision Australia. I enjoyed gaining insights from their expertise, particularly during interactions that gave me deeper appreciation for how a multidisciplinary approach was crucial for many clients. A clear example was the interrelated benefits of O&M training and physiotherapy. For people to maintain independent travel using a long cane, they also needed to maintain a level of strength and agility to walk, maintain balance and posture.
Developing relationships and building rapport with clients - as I expected it might be - was a steeper learning curve. The imperative to be adaptable in one’s style of communication and the strategies surrounding that communication cannot be overstated. The ‘success’ or steady development of a client’s skills and O&M capacity can hinge entirely on the quality of the communication between client and specialist.
I recognised my strategies to speak with clients and their families/supports had to be as responsive, nuanced and varied as the personalities and circumstances of each client. For example, a direct, frank approach suited some clients, whereas this would have been too confronting for others. Helpfully (though not always comfortably) it was quickly apparent when a certain style or approach was not in good alignment with a client. I have identified some commonalities amongst clients I had to ‘worker harder’ to communicate with, and will strive to acquire more strategies to manage these relationships more smoothly in future.
For example, the following ‘type’ of client provided me with greater challenge:
-
People who are taciturn, or reluctant to share their thoughts.
-
Highly independent men (aged 70 or older) who’ve sought O&M support very late in their low vision journey.
​
Development opportunities to expand my skillset for communication with such clients could include:
-
Observe more sessions with other O&M Specialists, exposing myself to different specialist’s style of communication, particularly amongst clients with the traits I have identified above.
-
​Be proactive and ask clients directly how they prefer to receive or provide information, or work with service providers.
-
Consider deeply the motivation behind some of this behaviour/attitudes from clients, and find ways to remove potential hurdles. For example, an independent man in his 70s may resent the idea of needing “help”. In opening conversations about what O&M training provides clients, language such as ‘support, help, assist’ could be replaced with terms like ‘up-skilling, solution-seeking, future-proofing’. These word choices shift the focus from a ‘deficit’ to ‘benefit’ mindset, and encourage the client to see O&M training not as a marker of lost capacity but an avenue to increased capacity.
2. O&M Assessments.
​When conversation didn’t yield enough information, assessment walks often proved more useful in determining a client’s capacity. It was often during an assessment walk that inconsistencies would present themselves between a client’s self-reporting verses their demonstrated capacity.
Vision Australia use their own template for making O&M assessments. The order of questions allows for a consistent way to expand the assessment findings into a formal report if required by the client for funding requests, employment/education supports, and related allied health referrals. As anticipated, over time, my familiarity with the order of assessment questions grew and my approach to assessments changed from a checklist style of inquiry, to a more relaxed guided conversation with the client.
​
My greatest learning, and an identified area for further development, was finding a variety of “ways to ask” clients for detailed information about their functional vision. Concepts like depth perception or light/dark adaptation often need to be couched in functional examples for clients to understand the kind of information I was seeking. Commonly, concepts about glare and light/dark adaptation were confused by clients. Functional examples included offering different scenarios to clients:
​
“How does your vision cope when you move from a very dark area to a bright area, such as from the shade of your lounge room to the bright sunlight just outside your front door?”
“How long do you need to wait before you can see well enough to make your way to the letterbox?”
“How does your vision cope with the afternoon sunlight bouncing off this white fence next door?”
​
​
I observed some patterns in people’s behaviour, and theorise that it may also be linked to language. To be “assessed” is to be judged and this can be a confronting or unwanted experience for people. Frequently my supervisor would remind people that an O&M assessment isn’t a ‘pass or fail’ situation. Evenso, I witnessed people making a great effort to describe their competencies, and being very hesitant to expand on their daily living challenges. This sometime made it difficult to isolate what their potential O&M goals might be. This has led me to wonder if, when speaking with a client, couching the assessment as a ‘review’ or ‘exploration’ of the client’s functional vision and mobility, may help remove any negative associations or assumptions they hold about the purpose of O&M.
Overall, I was able to quickly establish a good rapport during O&M assessments, and found that if I opened with a clear explanation of what Orientation & Mobility Specialists do, and how O&M is implemented by different people, new clients usually engaged meaningfully with the conversation and felt comfortable asking questions, as well as answering mine.
​
My immediate area for improvement is to become more confident in giving my O&M recommendations. While I am confident with the suitability of the aids/programs I recommend, I sometimes found my method of delivering this information would be too rushed, or not sound definitive/conclusive. On reflection, I saw how my conditioning towards “keeping people happy/comfortable”, can undermine my ability to communicate a recommendation with conviction or earnestness when I believed (or knew) a client was unhappy or disappointed with the outcomes of the assessment. Reminding myself that while rapport is useful, it is not more important than giving a client a realistic appraisal of the skills or strategies they need to obtain to achieve their goals. I must learn to become comfortable with being the barer of what may be uncomfortable or confronting news. Further opportunities to assess and give recommendations to clients, should help me develop this attitude, along with observation of other O&M Specialists and how they communicate unwelcomed recommendations to a client and their families.
3. Instructional Planning.
I was confident planning sessions for clients, taking into account their health, vision, and other records. It was interesting to notice that while, of course, clinical reports about a client’s level of vision were important for instructional planning, sociocultural factors also formed a crucial framework for how to design a program that would be engaging and useful for the client and their family/community. I gained a good understanding of the commonly prescribed mobility aids and the benefits and limitations of each.
​
My largest challenge with instructional planning was my relative unfamiliarity with the locality of my client catchment. Not a resident of the Gold Coast, I initially had to rely on my supervisor to suggest or isolate specific training locations that were close to the client, such as shopping centres, that also had features useful for long cane training (e.g. escalators, long staircases, etc). I appreciate that rarely will there be time to have a perfect knowledge of the areas frequented by a client, however it did inspire me to keep records of useful training locations and their features.
​
My knowledge of electronic mobility aids and smart phone apps, requires further development. My exposure to these aids was relatively limited due to the demographic of the clients in the Gold Coast catchment area, and that my personal phone is an android – making the exploration of iPhone-only apps difficult for me to do in my own time. To improve my knowledge of these devices and apps I will explore the Vision Australia “Exploring Technology” webinars, attend in-person any technology showcase days, and where time allows, seek the guidance of colleagues with Assistive Technology Specialist/O&M Specialist expertise.
4. Instruction
Delivering instruction was enjoyable, particularly when a good rapport with a client was achieved and they could recognise the benefits of the skills they had acquired. I took care to make clients feel unhurried during their sessions, encouraged questions, and frequently sought their feedback using prompts like, “talk me through what you notice” or “how is this feeling?”. I had a good grasp of time management and was able to close most sessions having achieved what was intended without rushing the client or conversely, finding the session stagnated. It was especially gratifying when a client’s spouse/family could be included in the instruction, reinforcing the progress being made by the client.
Another significant learning for me was to not let the ‘little things’ negatively impact the ‘big picture’. For example, although good cane technique and achieving in-step ensures a client’s safety, if a client is truly struggling to walk in-step with their new cane, instruction that is overtly pedantic about this specific skill, can discourage the client to the point where they become reluctant to practice or use their cane at all.
​
As with O&M Assessments, I can improve my instructional delivery by expanding the variety of ways to explain, describe, or demonstrate a skill or concept to a client. For example, to explain the wrist motion for use of long cane, terms like ‘hinge’, ‘gate’, ‘windscreen wiper’, ‘fish tail’ may all communicate the same idea, but one term may resonate better with one client over another. I also became aware of a personal trait of mine that can hinder instruction. It’s in my nature to be chatty, and I am inclined to talk to fill social silences thinking it alleviates tension between people – however, when a client is focussing on acquiring or consolidating a new skill, concentration is needed, so silence can be useful to allow them to hone their attention to executing the skill and monitoring their thoughts.
​
Moving forward I must build comfort within myself for tolerating silences, recognising that they are necessary for cognitive processing, and can allow space for a client to share more of their thoughts/experience/observations throughout the session.
5. Monitoring & Safety
The emotional/psychological comfort and safety of my clients is important to me, and perhaps because of my drama/theatre background, I felt well-attuned to people’s level of trust in me as their instructor, and their capacity for moving out of their ‘comfort zone’ whilst still feeling safe. While challenging boundaries is necessary for learning and growth, I aimed to increase exposure to risk very gradually for all clients, removing any chance of them feeling overwhelmed. In regards to physical safety I adjusted as needed my position and proximity to the client depending on their physical stability/strength and the complexity or hazards of the environment.
​
Early in the work placement, while focusing on a client’s safety I could forget my own – such as walking backwards down a steep, unfamiliar street. I have grown better at managing my attention across both my personal safety and the client’s, as I became familiar with teaching in a variety of locations.
​
When clients were ready to travel at a solo level, I noticed how peculiar it felt to have to ‘dial down’ my attentiveness regarding their safety, and allow them out of my sight. I am confident this is something I will grow better accustomed to as I take on more clients and refine my teaching style. In the meantime, thorough contingency and risk management planning within my instructional plans will keep the safety of clients and myself top-of-mind.
6. Facilitating Independence
To make a ‘macro level’ reflection: I was unprepared for how frequently I’d encounter clients who appeared to not want independence, and seemed comfortable (or accustomed) with their level of dependency on family, or support workers. I found myself stumped for a reply when a client – without any bitterness, sorrow, or concern - would say, “oh, I never leave the house alone” or “I’d always bring someone with me”, or “I’d never do that by myself”.
​
I appreciate these statements are likely borne from self-preservation or from wanting to assure concerned friends/family that they are not taking unnecessary risks. But it did raise questions for me about the difference between three ideas, that can become conflated:
-
what people think they shouldn’t do (informed by external influence)
-
what people think they can’t do (informed by internal or self-influence)
-
what people think they are capable of doing (informed by both personal experience/ambition and external influence)
I noticed these concepts tend to overlap for clients with protective family members. For example, a child may be capable of walking to school on their own, but have been conditioned to think they ‘can’t’ because their family are fearful for their safety and are reluctant to give them this independence. This in turn generates fearfulness in the child about solo travel.
​
As an O&M Specialist, ‘facilitating independence’ first requires a study of not only the client and their appetite for calculated risk, but also their network of support people. Ultimately, I understand that my role is not to judge people’s choices, but to simply provide them with an expanded range of choices. At a ‘micro level’, facilitating independence for clients requires the O&M Specialist to seek many small, and accumulating ways to build a client’s confidence. Scaffolding tasks, exercises, and challenges to ensure incremental success can build client confidence in their performance and problem-solving skills.
7. Professionalism
Working with Vision Australia allowed me to appreciate the immediate benefits interdisciplinary services provide for a client. Accurate, prompt, and consistent reporting, and procedures for accountability, are vital for the array of therapists/specialists to rely upon to provide the best, most up-to-date services for their clients. I took very seriously the responsibility of maintaining this standard of care across client records, and within discussions between colleagues about client cases.
​
Reflecting further on what it means to conduct oneself with professionalism in this career, I acknowledged the private/personal discipline required to maintain a healthy attitude and work/life balance. Unsurprisingly, the types of people drawn to a career in O&M (or any allied health professional) are usually altruistically motivated. In discovering more about the frustrations and disappointments experienced by clients and colleagues as they navigate complex funding sources, organisational/government/medical bureaucracy, and public ignorance/discrimination for the Disabled community, I could foresee how O&M Specialists are at risk of burnout, compassion fatigue, and feelings of futility, fatalism, depression, or detachment. To act with professionalism, is to acknowledge these inherent ‘risks’ of this role, and have safeguards, and systems in place to ensure that as an individual you are able to shield, recover, or process these aspects of the work in a way that allows you to continue the work with genuine positivity and self-motivation.​
​
​
I have witnessed, in my experience working in the performing arts sector, the same burdens on my arts worker peers. The personal and professional toll it takes on people can be career-ending at worst, and at its mildest, insidiously toxic - infecting individuals and arts organisations. Therefore, it was extremely heartening to discover at the OMAA conference, professionals with careers spanning over 40 years, still discussing and exploring facets of their work with gusto, enthusiasm and positivity. I see this endeavour towards a realistic, but optimistic balance within the profession as both an individual and collective responsibility for our sector.
​
My intention, after graduation, is to volunteer time to the OMMA Committee as a means to remain in touch with my professional peers, broaden and deepen my skills and professional networks, and invest in a community that I hope can one day invest in me.
Final Reflection:
What is O&M *really* and Why?
My revised 'philosophy of O&M', now that I've completed my WIL placement.
In April 2023, I made the following comments in relation to ‘the philosophy of O&M’ as I was just commencing my O&M studies:
“​an O&M Specialist is a person who, in partnership with a person who is Blind or vision impaired, obtains the skills, strategies and information required to ensure that person develops, maintains or regains their agency and independence in society.”
I went on to position my work as an O&M Specialist as a role that supported the Social Model of Disability, which I explained as a model whereby:
“existing societal, environmental and attitudinal barriers are what actually prevents Disabled people from full and equal participation in the community. From this position the onus falls on institutions, laws and individuals to remove these barriers to create greater social equality.”
​
From here I listed the various supports and skills O&M Specialists can provide for their clients to ensure equal participation in the community and closed with my prediction that “the function of an O&M Specialist shifts and evolves as the needs and ambitions of their clients change over time.”
​
Two years later, my philosophy of O&M has not altered drastically. What has evolved is my knowledge of the contexts in which an O&M does their work, and how dynamically this context can vary between countries/cultures, systems of financial support for services, service providing organisations, locations, communities, families and individuals. ​The optimism of my initial philosophy had not yet been exposed in real-terms, (opposed to a theoretical awareness) to some of the social, relational and economic barriers faced by people with low vision. During my WIL placement common barriers I observed for clients were: unhelpful spouses/partners, social anxiety or shame/stigma, discrimination/abuse from the public, and limited financial resources.
​
Be this as it may, and distressing or frustrating as it was to encounter, it has strengthened my resolve to be a more active advocate for the blind/low vision community, and led me to think deeply not only on how to be an effective O&M Specialist, but also what it means to be an effective ally. The responsibility to act in service to specific community doesn’t end when the client’s O&M session has closed and the case notes are filed. To facilitate independence for clients also requires facilitating social change. Having conversations with strangers, lodging complaints, raising awareness, educating people about removing barriers and misconceptions about the Blind/Low Vision community takes time and energy, and this expenditure of energy ‘costs’ me less, than it might for someone living with disability. In pledging to conduct myself as a professional in this field, I acknowledge effort must also be made to raise awareness more generally about how an understanding of O&M contributes to building healthy, safe, vibrant and active communities.
​
​​​In the past two years, as I've opened a conversation with anyone asking about my life, I’ve prefaced my, “I’m studying to be an Orientation & Mobility Specialist” with the phrase, “This is something very few people have heard of…but…”. As I complete my studies and reflect on what it means to be an O&M, my aspiration, for a not-too-distant future, is to be in a society where I can strike up a conversation with a stranger, and when they ask me my line of work, and I tell them “I’m an O&M Specialist” they’ll nod and smile, knowing exactly what that means.
Caption for Image above: Levity and Long Canes.
Caption for Image above: The Force is strong in this telescopic cane.