OMAA is the professional association of Orientation and Mobility Specialists in Australasia.

What is O&M?

Orientation and Mobility is about knowing where you are so that you can get where you want to go and travel there safely. O&M Specialists work with people of all ages, who are blind or have low vision. We offer training in the use of mobility aids, orientation to the environment, realistic assessment of limitations, vision education and development of sensory awareness.

OMAA's aims are to maintain appropriate standards of practice and training, to provide professional development through peer meetings and more formal seminars and conferences, to promote O&M as a profession, to provide representation for Orientation and Mobility Specialists on professional issues, and to publish information about and for the profession.

PLEASE NOTE:  No membership log-in is currently required to access any part of this website. Also please be aware that you do not have to have a facebook or twitter account to access the OMAA's pages on these sites - just click on the icons at the bottom of the page.  You will be able to read, but not comment on, all posts.

Latest News and Resources (updated 20/01/12):

A fabulous video from NFB on young children talking about their experiences with using the long cane:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrKXqpGr_cI

American Foundation for the Blind books are now available in Australia through The Nile Bookshop.  This will be a much cheaper option for us as it saves on international postage.  So if you've been wanting to upgrade your copy of "Foundations of Orientation and Mobility", this is the place to visit.

www.thenile.com.au/

The Other Film Festival is Australia’s only disability film festival. Since 2004, this biennial festival has screened an international program of outstanding contemporary cinema about the experience of disability.

artsaccess.com.au/the-other-film-festival/

FreeRoam low cost electronic cane wins Qld University of Technology Engineering for Humanity Challenge

www.ausicom.com/news-558-

The EGDMS Project brings together 10 partners from all over Europe, with the aim to develop a European model of training for Guide Dog mobility instructors.

www.egdms.eu/

OMAA AGM:

In Victoria, O&M Specialists from Vision Australia and Guide Dogs Victoria got together for a BBQ hosted by Lil Deverell.  More pictures will be included in the next issue of OMAAView. 

- Vision Australia's Graduate Certificate in Vision Impairment (Orientation & Mobility) course will be running from March 6 - November 16 2012. There is still room for one or two more students and applications can be accepted until Jan 31, 2012. The course runs out of Kensington, Melbourne.  For more details contact O&MCourse@visionaustralia.org

Coming Events 

IMC14 International Mobility Conference will be held in Palmerston North, New Zealand from 13 to 17 February 2012. Registrations now open!

The AER International Conference 2012 will be held July 18-22 in Bellevue, Washington, on Seattle’s East Side at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Bellevue.  aerbvi.org/2012international/index.htm