Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapists

Provide therapy to patients with visual impairments to improve their functioning in daily life activities. May train patients in activities such as computer use, communication skills, or home management skills.

Most important skills

Active Listening
Speaking
Learning Strategies
Reading Comprehension
Social Perceptiveness
Instructing
Service Orientation
Writing

Key knowledge

English Language
Education and Training
Psychology
Transportation
Customer and Personal Service
Therapy and Counseling
Public Safety and Security
Sociology and Anthropology

What the work involves

Teach cane skills, including cane use with a guide, diagonal techniques, and two-point touches.
Refer clients to services, such as eye care, health care, rehabilitation, and counseling, to enhance visual and life functioning or when condition exceeds scope of practice.
Provide consultation, support, or education to groups such as parents and teachers.
Participate in professional development activities, such as reading literature, continuing education, attending conferences, and collaborating with colleagues.
Obtain, distribute, or maintain low vision devices.
Design instructional programs to improve communication, using devices such as slates and styluses, braillers, keyboards, adaptive handwriting devices, talking book machines, digital books, and optical character readers (OCRs).
Collaborate with specialists, such as rehabilitation counselors, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists, to provide client solutions.
Teach clients to travel independently, using a variety of actual or simulated travel situations or exercises.

Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Social, Realistic, Investigative.

Qualifications and licensing

Most common education: Master's Degree (56.5% of respondents)
Related experience: None (34.8%)
On-the-job training: Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (30.4%)
Preparation level: O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Licensing: Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.

Check before planning

Licensing for Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Projection education uses SOC 29-1122 (detailed_parent); it may describe a broader group.

Limits

Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.

Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0

Work environment

How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).

Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.

Rankings compare typical U.S. occupation-level work conditions; individual jobs and employers vary. Data: O*NET 31.0 Work Context and BLS wages (May 2025).
Condition	Level	Compared with other occupations	Most common answer (O*NET survey)
Contact with others	Moderate	Lower on contact with others than 57% of occupations compared	52% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others”
Dealing with the public	Moderate	Higher on dealing with the public than 59% of occupations compared	35% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Teamwork	Very low	Lower on teamwork than 85% of occupations compared	39% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important”
Freedom to make decisions	Very high	Higher on freedom to make decisions than 92% of occupations compared	77% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom”
Time pressure	Very low	Lower on time pressure than 95% of occupations compared	61% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week”
Conflict situations	Very low	Lower on conflict situations than 92% of occupations compared	52% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people	Low	Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 72% of occupations compared	50% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month”
Consequence of error	Moderate	Higher on consequence of error than 54% of occupations compared	30% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious”

Work-pressure profile

Time pressure: very low
Conflict situations: very low
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
Consequence of error: moderate

Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.

Full answer distributions