The Profession Grows:
Orientation and Mobility in the 1960's and 1970's -
Additions, clarifications, and follow-up
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Names mentioned in the recording

Gene and Marianne Apple (developed low vision evaluations at Palo Alto)
Beatrix Baird (first O&M at Maryland School f/t Blind; trained with Hoover)
Janet Barlow (did some of her training barefoot)
Natalie Barraga (pioneer in low vision)
Sue Berjion (had to get permission to wear pants)
Mike Bina (one of those who never retire)
Don Blasch (Chief of O&M program at Western Michigan U; concerned that having women in O&M would reduce salaries)
Warren Bledsoe
- Section of Maryland School for the Blind dedicated to him
- helped do skit to convince rehab programs to teach cane
Gene Bourquin (co-authored an article on teaching the cane)
Cathy Brisbee (interned at MD School for the Blind)
Bud Buteau (low-vision O&M student with Michael Byington)
Ann Corn (worked with low vision)
Glenn DiChiera (thought safe campus without canes promoted independence)
Beth Esky ("explored" man with her cane)
Jim Fletcher (agency-trained O&M offered Eileen a job in Arizona)
Kathy Heubner (illustrious COMS who started out as agency-trained)
Butch Hill
- Headed university program with Purvis Ponder when Marjie was accepted
- promoted publications in O&M, published first textbook
- was not pleased that Janet Barlow trained barefoot
Richard Hoover
- trained Beatrix Baird
- Gave eye exams to students at Maryland School for the Blind
- developed systematic cane technique
James Kimbrough (advised Dona against getting agency training)
Bob LaDuke
- Laura saw him teaching on campus and decided to become an O&M
- He smoked, so Laura always knew where he was
Thomas Langham (started first O&M listserv)
Lacey Long (made Dona's earrings)
Joe McNulty (student "pranked" him by denying she knew him so police arrested him)
Purvis Ponder (published first textbook with Butch Hill)
Frank Ryan (placed students for practicum at Braille Institute, where Eileen worked and learned about O&M)
Thomas Franklin Ross (low-vision O&M student with Michael Byington)
Toby Scanlon (provided O&M to Michael and others with low vision)
Sue Shier (was classmate of Marjie at SFU)
Audrey Smith (Changed approach to working with low vision)
Bernie Smith (worked with children with Marjie and is still teaching O&M)
Brad Walker (While he was teaching a university student, two women picked up the student and carried her off.)
Rick Welsh (Dona's mentor and internship supervisor; courteously reminded her to dress professionally)
Bill Wiener (coauthored chapter on history in Foundations of O&M)
Russ Williams
- Invented the "drop-off lesson"
- not allowed to use cane
- Protected himself with his hand when not allowed to use a cane
- helped do skit to convince rehab programs to teach cane
Kathy Yale (knows history of SOMA)

Acronyms and terminology mentioned in the recording
AFB - American Foundation for the Blind
AAWB - American Association of Workers for the Blind (1895-1984 when it consolidated with AEVH to become AER)
AEVH - Association for the Education of the Visually Handicapped (1968-1984; formerly the American Association of Instructors for the Blind 1871–1968; in 1984 it consolidated with AAWB to become AER)
AER - Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired
AMD (Alternative Mobility Device) - Device that can preview the ground by being pushed forward
APH - American Printing House for the Blind
CAOMS - California Association of O&M Specialists
COMS - Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist
COMSTAC Report - Report of the Commission on Standards and Accreditation of Services for the Blind (sponsored by AFB and published in 1966)
Double-shafted mobility cane - Rectangular Alternative Mobility Device
Hines - Hines VA Blind Rehab Center - where O&M programs were developed
IDEA - Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
Miller’s Analogy Test - graduate admission exam measuring analytical reasoning through analogies (discontinued in 2023)
O&M - Orientation and mobility
NAC - National Accreditation Commission
PAOMS- Pennsylvania Association of O&M Specialists (approx. 1972-75)
PE- Physical Education
Peripatologist - As Laura said, graduates from the O&M program at Boston College called themselves peripatologists (for many years there was a controversy -- usually as a good-natured rivalry between university programs -- over whether to refer to ourselves as O&M specialists or "peripatologists").
PT - Physical Therapist
RP - retinitis pigmentosa
RLF - retrolental fibroplasia (retinopathy of prematurity)
SFA - Steven F. Austin State University O&M program
SOMA - Southeastern O&M Association
TDMHMR - Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (1965-2004)
TVI - teacher of the visually impaired

Resources
Warren C. Bledsoe Orientation and Mobility Archives
O&M Living History -- Where Did Our O&M Techniques Come From?
Notes added since the recording was made

Notes from Dona Sauerburger in reference to Linda's comments Cane skill not introduced till high school, not allowed between lessons

After recording our webinar, I was astounded to realize that the O&M instructor who wouldn't let the students keep and use their canes between lessons at the Maryland School for the Blind (MSB) was a classmate of mine, Leslie Jo Machov, who had the same training I had! Leslie Jo was the only one in our class whose instructor was Stanley Suterko, one of the first 5 O&M specialists at Hines. Then while I did my internship at the school for the blind in Pittsburgh, she did her internship with adults at Hines, and Linda must have been one of her first students. So I wondered -- why on earth did she withhold the cane from her students between lessons?

And then I remembered -- I did the same thing to my adult students at my first job, working for the state voc rehab agency in West Virginia! It must have been because our instructors did it that way -- why else would we do such a crazy thing? After my clients had mastered the "precane" skills, I'd use part of our lesson to show them how to use the cane. They'd practice for a little bit, and then I'd take the cane home with me, and bring it back for the next lesson. When I thought that they had become skilled enough with the cane, I'd allow them to keep it after the lesson.

One day a client asked if he could keep the cane after the lesson to show his family and friends. I decided that maybe no harm would come from letting him do that. Like the decision to break with my training and start teaching my clients to how to use the cane on their very first lesson, this decision to let them keep the cane was made with some trepidation as to whether I was doing the right thing. But the client's progress with cane skills was not slowed down by letting him have the cane, so I started leaving the cane with other clients, and found that it did not affect their progress negatively -- in fact, several had actually improved their skills between lessons. Who knew?

So I now have a soft place in my heart for Leslie Jo and the other instructors at MSB who withheld this precious tool from their students for several years until they graduated. This was Leslie Jo's first job so I can understand her reluctance to make any changes -- I myself didn't dare break with traditional training until I had been teaching for several years. We'll probably never know if Leslie Jo would have changed her policy later -- shortly after her work at Linda's school, she left the field of O&M and returned to her career in recreation therapy.

TIMELINE and insights about the cane:
when is it considered reliable, and how were people convinced?
Dona Sauerburger

After listening to and sharing memories with others from the 60s and 70s, I think I now understand why children and adults were discouraged (and sometimes forbidden) from using canes at that time, and I solved a mystery about the reliability of the cane technique that had been plaguing me for 55 years. I'll let the story reveal itself with the timeline of events as they were shared here. Enjoy!

Even in the 1960's, many in the blindness community didn't realize the usefulness of the cane; saw no need for blind children or adults to use it.

Many thought that blind people were better off without a cane, echolocation can be used to get around (Dona)
Around 1950, blind children were given a cane but not shown how to use it (Michael)
Cane did not provide reliable protection until Hoover developed a technique to use it in 1940s (Dona)
In late 1940s, after learning how to use the cane from Hoover, Russ Williams was forbidden to use it at military rehab center (Dona)
Throughout the 1960s, children at Maryland School for the Blind weren't allowed to use the cane except during lessons (Linda)
Some thought use of cane impeded learning of O&M skills and concepts (Linda)
Many adults didn't use the cane (Ann)
Because many blind people did not use a cane, falls by blind children were common
1960 - skit and presentation at AAWB started to convince blindness community of usefulness of the cane (Dona)

In 1960s and 1970s, we did not have a systematic way to teach how to use the cane, or realize that the cane doesn't provide protection until proficiency is achieved.