Vision Education and Orientation & Mobility Services

The Missouri School for the Blind Outreach Services offers assessment and technical assistance in the areas of Vision Education and Orientation & Mobility to all Local and State Board Operated programs in Missouri. These services are intended to support programming efforts. Assessments are conducted by professionals certificated in their respective fields. Services are at no cost to the district/program. Services currently being offered by a Vision Supervisor for children age birth to 21, include:

Functional Vision and Learning Media Assessments (FVLMA) are intended to identify:

  • How a student functions visually in daily activities with a variety of materials
  • Ways to increase visual functioning
  • Potential roles of primary and secondary learning media (eg., print, tactile, auditory)
  • Current skills in the various areas of literacy instruction, e.g., reading, writing, listening, keyboarding, and related technology
  • How the visual impairment affects the student’s performance in the general education curriculum

Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Assessments are intended to assess a student's present skills in:

  • Orientation - the cognitive process of utilizing the senses in establishing one’s position and relationship to all other significant objects in one’s environment (e.g., knowing where one is in space)
  • Mobility—the ability to navigate safely from one location to another desired location in another part of the environment (e.g., getting safely from point A to point B)

These assessments are not comprehensive educational evaluations and are not intended to be all-encompassing regarding the development and provision of a student's educational program. Educational program staff participation in each assessment is required. Subsequent to assessment, a written report summarizing all recommendations are made to the team for review and consideration.

 

How To Request an Assessment

In order to process a request and schedule an appointment, the following information is required:

  1. Submit a request
  2. Parent/Caregiver submits a Release of Information (ROI) & Parent Observation.
    • The ROI allows the exchange of information between requesting program (LEA, SBOP) and MSB
      • To release the current eye report, a parent will fill out the Release of Information form that gives consent to MSB, and both the LEA & their ophthalmologist, to exchange information between them.
    • Input from the parent on their child’s vision.
  3. Submit necessary background information, including:
  4. Staff submit checklist/questionnaire

Once we receive and review all of these required components, we will contact the requesting agency to schedule an assessment. All functional vision assessments will include primary learning media, Expanded Core Curriculum, and assistive technology components.
If you have any questions about the assessment, email Mary Morrell.

Technical Assistance for information and resources

Technical Assistance is intended to offer information and support regarding a variety of topics including but not limited to:

  • Assessment planning
  • Adaptations to the learning environment
  • Modifications of materials
  • Approaches to instruction that may be helpful to staff and faculty working with students with visual impairment
  • Expanded Core Curriculum
  • Access and success in general education curriculum
  • Accurate, efficient and timely task completion
  • Social Interaction Skills
  • Sensory Efficiency
  • Recreation and Leisure Skills
  • Independent Living Skills
  • Self-determination
  • Career Education
  • Orientation and Mobility

Map of Outreach/Blind Skills Specialist Regions

Forms