Low Vision Therapists, Orientation and Mobility Specialists, and Vision Rehabilitation Therapists
Health ScienceO*NET 29-1122.01United States
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.
- Median annual earnings
- $99,870
- Projected change
- +16.6%
- Typical education
- Master's or Professional degree
- Employment
- 171.33K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
60.9% of the workforce
Growing to 199.76K by 2035
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The work
What low vision therapists, orientation and mobility specialists, and vision rehabilitation therapists do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Teach cane skills, including cane use with a guide, diagonal techniques, and two-point touches.
- Recommend appropriate mobility devices or systems, such as human guides, dog guides, long canes, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and other adaptive mobility devices (AMDs).
- Train clients with visual impairments to use mobility devices or systems, such as human guides, dog guides, electronic travel aids (ETAs), and other adaptive mobility devices (AMDs).
- Train clients to use tactile, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and proprioceptive information.
- Write reports or complete forms to document assessments, training, progress, or follow-up outcomes.
- Develop rehabilitation or instructional plans collaboratively with clients, based on results of assessments, needs, and goals.
- Assess clients' functioning in areas such as vision, orientation and mobility skills, social and emotional issues, cognition, physical abilities, and personal goals.
- Teach clients to travel independently, using a variety of actual or simulated travel situations or exercises.
- Teach self-advocacy skills to clients.
- Provide consultation, support, or education to groups such as parents and teachers.
- Teach independent living skills or techniques, such as adaptive eating, medication management, diabetes management, and personal management.
- Monitor clients' progress to determine whether changes in rehabilitation plans are needed.
- Identify visual impairments related to basic life skills in areas such as self care, literacy, communication, health management, home management, and meal preparation.
- 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).
- Train clients to use adaptive equipment, such as large print, reading stands, lamps, writing implements, software, and electronic devices.
- Participate in professional development activities, such as reading literature, continuing education, attending conferences, and collaborating with colleagues.
- Obtain, distribute, or maintain low vision devices.
- Collaborate with specialists, such as rehabilitation counselors, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists, to provide client solutions.
- 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.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $69,956
- 25th percentile
- $81,365
- 50th percentile
- $99,870
- 75th percentile
- $116,963
- 90th percentile
- $134,529
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $99,870 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+16.6%much faster than average
2025171,326 jobs
2035 projected199,755 jobs
28,429 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Master's or Professional degree
- 60.9%
- Bachelor's degree
- 39.1%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Rehabilitation Therapists24 postings
- 02Rehabilitation Occupational Therapists13 postings
- 03Massage Therapists/Yoga Instructors6 postings
- 04Mobile Therapists4 postings
- 05Occupational Therapists4 postings
- 06Personal Trainers/Massage Therapists4 postings
- 07Outpatient Occupational Therapists3 postings
- 08Occupational Therapists/Clinical Specialists2 postings
- 09Certified Massage Therapists1 postings
- 10Community Therapists1 postings
- 11Teachers of the Blind and Visually Impaired1 postings
- 12Vision Therapists1 postings
- 13Wheelchair Agents1 postings
Top employers
- 01Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania16 postings
- 02Low Vision Works Of Florida10 postings
- 03Stretchlab9 postings
- 04Center For The Visually Impaired3 postings
- 05Memorial Hermann3 postings
- 06Elements Massage2 postings
- 07Impact Vision Therapy, P.C.2 postings
- 08State of South Carolina2 postings
- 09The Iris Network2 postings
- 10United States Department of Veterans Affairs2 postings
- 11Braille Institute Of America1 postings
- 12Dallas Independent School District1 postings
- 13Legacy Home Care1 postings
- 14Lighthouse Of Collier1 postings
- 15Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital1 postings
- 16Michael E Debakey Va Medical Center1 postings
- 17State of Montana1 postings
- 18University of California-Irvine1 postings
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