Occupation Summary
Blind Rehabilitation Services (BRS) at VA is a diverse and burgeoning field entering a period of great expansion. Our current national workforce includes approximately 300 blind rehabilitation staff. BRS professionals may be based in inpatient centers, outpatient centers, or may be sole practitioners. We provide rehabilitation services for veterans and active duty personnel who have experienced vision loss because of their service, or due to age-related vision changes, trauma, and other causes.
Specialties in Blind Rehabilitation are:
- Computer Access Technology (CAT) Instructor – Instructs access to computers using adaptive technology and software.
- Living Skills Instructor (also known as Visual Rehabilitation Therapist or Rehabilitation Teacher) – Instructs life skills in the areas of communication (e.g., Braille, technology), personal management, financial management, home management, and adaptive kitchen skills.
- Manual Skills Instructor – Instructs problem solving and sensory integration skills using a variety of tasks, such as crafts, woodworking, and machinery.
- Orientation & Mobility (O&M) Instructor (also know as O&M Specialist) – Instructs safe travel in home and community (including public transportation). This involves orientation to the environment, including adaptive global positioning technology and safe travel skills, such as visual search, use of a cane, and other electronic devices.
- Visual Skills Instructor (also known as Low Vision Therapist) – Instructs optimal use of vision, with and without adaptive equipment; use of low vision devices, such as magnifiers and electronic devices to perform literacy activities, activities of daily living in the home and community, as well as vocational and leisure pursuits; use of ergonomics; use of visual environmental cues and visual adaptations to the environment.
- Visual Impairment Service Team (VIST) Coordinator – Provides case management and outreach, responsible for identification and referral to appropriate local, regional, and national resources.
- Blind Rehabilitation Outpatient Specialist (BROS) – Multi-trained professional who provides community-based services in at least two instructional specialties listed above. "Polytrauma" BROS work with veterans and active duty personnel with multiple traumas, including brain injury, most of whom were wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Program Summary
Preceptors select and train interns in one or more of the above areas, depending on the preceptors' background and expertise, as well as the need at their station and/or the field in general. Some of these specialties may require interns to take university coursework, depending on the intern's background and experiences.
At present, VA has a high need for BRS professionals. In FY07, Congress approved funding to create positions for 35 new BROS and 11 new VIST throughout the U.S. Additionally, 111 low vision therapists, orientation and mobility specialists, and vision rehabilitation therapists are required to staff VA's 55 new low vision clinics.
Qualifications:
The ability and willingness to relocate is a requirement for selection as a TCF Program intern. If relocation is necessary for permanent placement, VA pays for moving expenses. Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
