Laura Bozeman |
Michael Byington |
Dona Sauerburger |
Linda Kipps |
Marjie Wood |
Eileen Siffermann |
Pamela Cory |
Ann Byington |
Recorded January 23, 2026 |
The Profession Grows:
Orientation and Mobility in the 1960's and 1970's |
What was it like for the instructors and students who lived through these times? Linda Kipps, who was born blind and received her O&M training as a child from 1966 to 1972, suggested that we record the stories from different perspectives. Please join us and peek into the world of O&M at this time of transition where the idea of using canes was still taking hold, even among university-trained O&Ms, and learn what it was like as a child who is totally blind or has low vision to get O&M training back then, or what it was like as one of the instructors who graduated from universities where they had to write their own textbook and found themselves isolated and facing situations they had not been prepared for, experiencing a mixture of trepidation as to whether they dared to change what had been passed on to them from the O&M pioneers; an exhilarating sense of accomplishment when barriers were broken and people were served, and regret that they hadn't done it sooner.
We are grateful to Eileen Siffermann, who has written extensively about the history of O&M, for facilitating the session and providing historical context to our experiences.
Panelists:
- Laura Bozeman, COMS, Stephen F. Austin State University undergraduate O&M program, 1973
- Michael Byington, COMS, O&M student 1972; O&M instructor starting 1978; Texas Tech University O&M program 2011
- Linda Kipps, O&M student 1966-1972
- Dona Sauerburger, COMS, Western Michigan University O&M program 1969
- Eileen Siffermann, COMS, California State University, L.A. O&M program 1971
- Marjie Wood, COMS, Florida State University undergraduate O&M program, 1973
- Pamela Cory, M.A., Western Michigan University Rehabilitation Teaching program, 1975
- Ann Byington, O&M student 1960-67
Names Mentioned in the recordingAcronyms and terminology Mentioned |
- California State U LA O&M program 1971-2 (Eileen)
- Western Michigan U O&M program 1969 (Dona)
- Florida State U undergraduate O&M program 1972-3 (Marjie)
- Stephen F. Austin State University undergraduate O&M program 1972-3 (Laura)
- Internships at VA, state agencies for the blind, and schools (Eileen)
- VA provided courses on aspects of O&M (Eileen)
- Wrote own textbook; Long Cane News and other material (Dona)
- Butch Hill recognized importance of professional publications, published first textbook with Purvis Ponder (Dona)
- Student notes were incorporated into Blue Book (Marjie)
- First textbook -- Hill and Ponder's "Blue Book" (Eileen)
- Wrote own textbook; Blue Book introduced (Laura)
- Long Cane News and Blindness Annual (Eileen)
- Dresses required, wearing pumps (shoes) in winter (Dona)
- Professional dress encouraged for clients (Michael)
- Blind students rebel against dress requirement (Linda)
- Professional dress in the heat! (Marjie)
- Need special permission to wear pants in winter (Meg Robertson)
- Permission for women to wear wrap-around skirts; funding allowance for shoes (Laura)
- Avoid distinctive smells (smoking -- oh no!) (Laura, Dona, Eileen)
- Janet Barlow did some of her training barefoot (Dona)
- O&Ms expected to teach in severe hot and cold weather (Dona)
- Scheduling to avoid heat (Eileen and Laura)
- One of the first conferences of SOMA (Southeastern O&M Association) (Marjie)
- Historical context for O&M Associations (importance of being autonomous) (Eileen)
- We were SO isolated and craved connections with O&Ms to share and problem-solve! (Dona)
- Internet opened up connection (Dona)
- First paycheck (Marjie)
- Didn't realize that NO ONE knew what we do! (not even blind people!) (Dona)
- First job: Fulfilling NAC requirements; variety of experiences with colleagues; volunteered to each concepts to kindergarteners (Eileen)
- As accessibility coordinator, was asked to help blind people navigate challenging situations (Michael)
- Because O&M was new to public schools, difficulty establishing appropriate qualifications and job title (Marjie)
- Standards and criteria for O&Ms and other professionals became important (Eileen)
- cane skill not introduced before "precane skills" (Dona)
- Cane skill not introduced till high school, not allowed between lessons (Linda)
- Mother gives Linda a cane -- stigma? (Linda)
- cane skill not introduced for weeks (Linda)
- safe campus environment promotes learning; canes might impede progress (Eileen, Linda)
- children traveled on and off campus without canes (Linda)
- Experience O&M and traveling on campus without a cane (Ann)
- Russ Williams not allowed to use cane in 1940s (Dona)
- Adults traveled without canes (Ann)
- people thought that canes might impede development of compensatory skills (Dona)
- Walking without canes meant children fell down stairs (Ann)
- in 1960, rehab programs still didn't accept or teach use of cane (Dona)
- Hoover developed technique for cane to detect obstacles and drop-offs (Dona)
- 1960 skit and demonstrations convince rehab administrators to teach cane technique (Dona)
- Children without canes fell down stairs even in familiar campus (Linda)
- In 1970s many didn't realize that with a special technique, cane can reliably protect you (Dona)
- But we still didn't realize cane technique doesn't protect reliably unless you're proficient (Dona)
- Need to know what protection to expect from the cane while learning (Dona)
- Different cane techniques; typical canes and tips (Linda
- Making our own canes (Eileen, Laura, Dona)
- Trial by fire, mentors helped (Laura)
- university programs prepared for adults, needed more about child development (Eileen)
- Program for infants starts in 1979
- Without O&M, some students thought "the world turns with me" (Dona)
- Learning O&M skills/concepts before O&M instruction as a totally blind child (Linda)
- learning O&M skills/concepts from peers and mother as a child with low vision (Michael)
- Being active helps to learn spatial concepts (Linda)
- Gene and Marianne Apply developed low vision assessments at Palo Alto (Eileen)
- Student may need shapes rather than letters for vision assessment (Eileen)
- meeting and working with Natalie Barraga (Laura and Marjie)
- Audrey Smith changed approach from "sight saving" (Dona)
- Audrey Smith's videos - children who had been taught as if blind were using vision (Laura)
- Dona couldn't realize that clients had vision that she should teach them to use (Dona)
- Students with low vision at MD School f/t Blind not taught O&M (except some night lessons) (Linda)
- KY school f/t Blind: no O&M for low vision students; KY Rehab Center: low vision students taught in groups, setting their own destinations (Michael)
- late 1990s/2000 in Canada, students with low vision had no O&M till 10th grade (Jen McEachen)
- Student who thought of herself as totally blind realizes she can use her vision (Pam Cory)
- Dona regrets not teaching people with low vision how to use it to augment safety (Dona)
- Blind students were prioritized because caseloads overwhelming, but students with low vision also needed O&M (Laura)
- IDEA law and transition to public schools meant missing rich environment of campuses of schools for the blind (Eileen)
- students with low vision didn't get referred for O&M because they seemed safe on campus (Marjie)
- Bonding and bringing normalcy to the life of a student who'd been confined to a crib till age 9 (Eileen)
- Making Alternative Mobility Devices (Eileen)
- children with multiple disabilities had a lot of potential; difficult to convince teachers (Marjie)
- Important to enable students to make their own decisions (Laura)
- Feeling shame about rejection of students with cogntive disability because we weren't prepared (Dona)
- Need to continue learning beyond what we were taught, our profession continues to grow even today (Marjie, Dona, Eileen)
- Appreciation of agency-trained O&Ms and the transition to university-trained (Eileen)
- Learning skills from instructors who went through 6-week training (Linda)
- getting university training wasn't an option for some who might otherwise have become an O&M (Susan and Dona)
- Many illustrious O&Ms started out as agency-trained O&Ms (Dona)
- Appreciation for agency-trained O&Ms (Dona)
- Experience as agency-trained, appreciation for university training (Michael)
- Shortage of O&Ms might be result of understanding value of O&M (Eileen)
- People shocked to see a blind person traveling independently (Dona)
- Making mayor aware of needs of blind travelers (Eileen)
- Stories of public reacting to blind travelers and O&M lesson (Eileen, Linda, Marjie, Laura, Michael)
- Taking the Millers' Analogy Test (Eileen)
- 20/20 vision; normal hearing; enough stamina to walk long distances; (Laura)
- Pass a psychological evaluation (Laura)
- People with low vision could not be certified (Michael)
- Teach in severe heat and cold (Dona)
- Instead of teaching students as if they had no vision, teach them to use their vision
- Cora
- Dona
- Did not have a systematic way to teach the cane technique, as we do now
- Realize that cane does not reliably protect until achieving fourth stage of proficiency (Dona)
- Did not introduce and start teaching how to use the cane until after student learned other skills
- Regreting failure to teach people with low vision how to use it to augment safety (Dona)
- Feeling shame about rejection of students with cogntive disability because we weren't prepared (Dona)
- Need to continue learning beyond what we were taught, our profession continues to grow even today (Marjie, Dona, Eileen)
- We continue to grow (Dona)
- first O&Ms were all men; standards of stamina established (Laura)
- Concern that having women in O&M would reduce salaries (Dona and Eileen)