Memorandum in Support of NYS VRT/O&M Licensure
Memorandum in Support of New York State Licensure of Vision Rehabilitation Professionals and Orientation and Mobility Specialists (S.1262B/A.5581B)
Licensure is a consumer protection practice. If you ask the general public, they view licensure as a protection against unqualified service providers. Licensure specifies scope of practice, educational requirements, practicum or internship requirements, and title protection. You cannot practice or use the title of licensed professional when a profession is licensed unless you have met all the qualifying criteria.
There are nearly one million New Yorkers experiencing blindness or vision impairment that interferes with daily functioning. With the aging of the baby boomers, the number of seniors with vision loss is expected to double by the year 2020. More babies are surviving low birth weight and other complications but often with disabilities including vision impairment. There is a demographic imperative. There is no time to waste. We must license the specialized professionals who work day in and day out to enable babies through seniors to live safely and independently.
Orientation and mobility specialists teach people who are blind of all ages how to navigate in their environment safely, crossing a street independently, using a bus or subway. O&M specialists prescribe long canes and other mobility devices. Vision rehabilitation therapists teach people who are blind of all ages to slice, dice, cook, bake, label medications, care for their children, manage their household, learn Braille and computer technologies, and function independently using alternative techniques and adapted equipment. Infants and toddlers who are blind are taught to explore their world and develop their other senses to compensate for their vision deficits. School age children learn how to read and write using alternative techniques and to meet educational and developmental milestones. Youth and adults are prepared for the world of work. Seniors are helped to prepare to find or maintain employment, volunteer work and to make the best use of leisure time continuing activities as a blind person they may have learned as a sighted person including knitting, photography, painting, dance, etc.
People of all ages who are blind or visually impaired can do just about everything a fully sighted person can do, but they need to learn to do it differently and efficiently with instruction from a VRT and/or O&M. Many blind people themselves have gotten Masters degrees in VRT and O&M and make great professionals.
Hunter College of the City University of NY offers a FREE Masters Degree leading to a VRT and/or O&M degree and through computer based distance learning and local internships, any New Yorker can enroll.
Hundreds of vision rehabilitation professionals in New York State and the surrounding states are lobbying for NYS licensure. Thousands of blind and visually impaired consumers are lobbying for licensure. It is time for our legislators to listen and pass licensure in 2010.