By Emily Coleman

(Editor’s Note: The Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) is specific to children with visual impairments and intended to teach the skills necessary to access the core academic curriculum and to live interdependently throughout life. In honor of the holiday season, we’re bringing back nine articles on ways to incorporate ECC skills into daily life, revised for the 2017-2018 holiday season.)

Eddie, holding his white cane, and laughing with his dad

On the first day of holiday, the Expanded Core Curriculum gave to me… orientation and mobility.

What Is Orientation and Mobility?

This area of the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) is typically taught by an Orientation and Mobility (O&M) instructor, and being only a teacher of students with visual impairments myself, I’m obviously not an expert. However, I know that O&M is about teaching a child with a visual impairment to understand his body, orient to his environment, and to safely travel from one place to another. This can be a busy metropolis for the young adult or a living room for a young toddler.

Here are a few ideas to incorporate O&M into your holidays:

Orientation and mobility is all about getting up and moving about safely and as independently as possible. The holidays give a lot of reasons to be on the go, so keep those kids moving. If you have other ideas, please leave a comment. We’d love to hear it!

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