Division on Visual Impairments

VIDBE-Q 63.4 Fall 2018

A quarterly newsletter from the Council for Exceptional Children's Division on Visual Impairments containing practitioner tips for Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments, Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and other professionals.

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34 VIDBE-Q Volume 63 Issue 4 and were interviewed postsurvey. The interviews were recorded, and the data were coded. Listening to each recording revealed a list of key themes. Research Questions The research questions designed for the study were as follows: 1. What do O&M specialists report are the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals who work with students who are visually impaired? 2. What do O&M specialists report are the training needs of these paraprofessionals? 3. What do O&M specialists report are the supervision needs of these paraprofessionals? Population and Sample or Participants The human participants for this study consisted of 11 O&M specialists (adult educators, 18 years of age or older) who supervise paraprofessionals who work with students with visual impairments in public schools (within the itinerant O&M service delivery model) in Southern California. Major Findings Round 1 In Round 1, the responses organized into two major categories for the roles and responsibilities of paraprofessionals, specifically, reinforcement of O&M skills and monitoring of O&M skills. Monitoring was defined as involving only observation of the student by the paraprofessional and subsequent reporting to the O&M specialist about the student's progress. Effective monitoring of a skill by a paraprofessional would require the

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