Mobility week

Sorry I've been MIA the last few weeks. Things have been crazy...anyway...

I have been working with the transition camp kids at the lighthouse. Anytime they leave the light house to go out to eat, go shopping, or go to job experiences I go with them. I observe their mobility, and have recently been jumping in more. We had one student who was totally blind and used a cane. I had been observing and working mostly with her because she has the most need for mobility. It has been fun trying to describe areas so she can find landmarks, encouraging her to use her cane using the proper techniques, and just watching her travel. Unfortunately, she left for a family vacation and will not be back. The rest of the kids have fairly good usable vision. Only one of them used a cane, and he only uses it in dimly lit unfamiliar places. In four weeks I've seen him use it once. So observation and teaching cane skills has declined.

This week is the most exciting week for me because it is mobility week! We are going on all kinds of field trips, riding the bus and doing street crossings. While it is difficult to note one particular thing I have noticed so far, I do see the typical teenage over confidence and attitude causing some students to make unwise mobility decisions. A few students did not use the cross walk when leaving the lighthouse today. They were corrected, and it is a small road with very little traffic so everything was fine. We rode the bus to the plaza, transfered and had to cross a major intersection to get to lunch. I was trying to note which students were having a hard time with outdoor mobility, but I started to realize it's almost impossible who really has the skills and who is just following the group; especially with this visually oriented group. I really couldn't tell if one particular student knew if was safe to cross or if he just followed the friend in front of him. We had some leaders who showed strong mobility skills, but other than those same students everyone else followed along. It made me realize how important one on one lessons are when working with individuals with visual impairments.

More to come...sooner than the last entry I promise!