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VIDBE-Q Volume 63 Issue 4
President's Message
Amy Parker, Ed.D. & COMS
Assistant Professor
Portland State University
atp5@pdx.edu
Dear DVIDB Community,
Welcome to Fall! The change in the season brings with it new schedules and with
them fresh routes to learn. It also brings one of our special issues, Orientation and
Mobility, led by our own Dr. Tessa McCarthy.
O&M is a relatively young field that has benefited from a nexus of knowledge in
rehabilitation, special education, assistive technology, early intervention, social work,
transportation, urban planning and even architecture. Recognized in statute and
regulation as a related service in IDEA, as well as an accommodation in the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, O&M truly
brings opportunities to explore what participation in community means for individuals
with visual impairment or deafblindness. DVIDB is proud to be a professional home to
researchers and practitioners who are passionate about O&M and who, as Tessa
demonstrates in this special issue, bring innovations in design and technology and
