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This information is meant for family, friends, workmates, if you are interested in knowing more about this service please feel free to contact us.
Having the necessary skills of orientation and mobility means a visually impaired person can move about safely, as easily as possible and looking as natural as possible. Orientation means, ‘to know where you are’ and mobility means ‘how to get there’.
THE MEANING OF ORIENTATION
Visually impaired people learn to use all their other senses, i.e. hearing, smell, touch, taste and any remaining vision to tell where they are in an area and where everything else is around them.
THE MEANING OF MOBILITY
A person’s ability to move from one place to another safely.
INDEPENDENT (On one’s own) ORIENTATION AND MOBILITY
A visual impairment can change the way a person holds his/her body (posture) and how they walk (gait).
Sometimes a visually impaired person is not steady and does not move about freely. This is because sight is very important to us when standing and walking.
Sight also helps us to miss walking into things in the path
LOSS OF SIGHT CAN CAUSE:
It is very important that natural walking and movement are not lost if a person has a visual impairment. Many visually impaired people look very tense when walking. This is because they feel unsure whether or not they will knock into or fall over something. This can be helped by relaxation and by learning good orientation and mobility skills. Once this is learnt a natural feeling of movement shall come about.
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