Attorneys and advocates retain Traverse Instruction when a case turns on a client’s or student’s ability to travel safely and independently without full vision. Whether the matter involves special education mediation or due process, personal injury, medical negligence, or a settlement that includes rehabilitation training, I provide independent evaluation, clear written documentation, expert consultation, and direct instruction — delivered by a credentialed Orientation and Mobility professional whose methods are grounded in the science of how people actually learn.
Independent O&M Evaluations and Written Reports
An independent Orientation and Mobility evaluation answers the questions a case actually turns on: What can this person do today, safely and independently? What instruction is needed, in what amount, and why? Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, O&M is a defined related service (IDEA § 300.34(c)(7)), and parents who disagree with a district’s evaluation have the right to an independent educational evaluation (IEE) under IDEA § 300.502. I conduct these evaluations as a neutral, independent expert — the findings are the findings, whoever retains me.
Every evaluation is built to withstand scrutiny. Each written report includes:
- Standardized, evidence-based measurement using the National Orientation and Mobility Assessment (NOMA), which yields objective domain scores in conceptual knowledge, general mobility skills, orientation skills, and travel confidence — an evidence-based baseline against which future progress can be measured.
- Systematic direct observation of real travel tasks in the environments where the person actually lives, learns, or works — not solely clinical impressions or records review.
- Comprehensive records review and structured interviews with the student or client, family, and relevant staff, with data sources identified for every finding.
- Specific, measurable recommendations — service type, intensity, and duration — tied to the documented record and to the applicable legal standards, with reassessment benchmarks.
- Plain-language writing. Reports are written to be understood and used by attorneys, hearing officers, mediators, and IEP teams, not only by other O&M specialists.
Expert Consultation and Testimony
I provide record review, consultation, and expert testimony on the nature and scope of Orientation and Mobility, the impact of vision loss on independence, the standard of care in blindness rehabilitation, and the boundaries of professional qualification — including when input from teachers of the visually impaired, occupational therapists, physical therapists, or physicians, however valuable, is not a substitute for evaluation and instruction by a qualified O&M professional. I have extensive experience communicating complex rehabilitation concepts to non-specialist audiences from across the U.S., and that professional experience carries directly into deposition, hearing, and settlement contexts.
Settlement-Awarded and Court-Ordered Training
When a settlement, judgment, or mediated agreement includes O&M instruction, I am available to provide that training directly. I work with clients across the full age spectrum, from young children to adults in their eighties, across diverse etiologies and functional levels, including individuals with additional disabilities. The same rigor that goes into my evaluations goes into the instruction itself — and because my approach builds transferable skills rather than memorized routes, the independence a client gains is designed to persist long after the case closes.
Correctional and Institutional Settings
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act applies to state prisons and local jails — Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey, 524 U.S. 206 (1998) — and Section 504 reaches federal and federally funded facilities. Where an incarcerated person is blind or losing vision, the question is rarely whether the facility can house them safely. It is whether they can participate in the programs, services, and activities the law guarantees: education, vocational training, work assignments, the law library, medical care. In practice that participation often depends on other incarcerated people, an arrangement that creates exposure for the individual and the institution alike.
I provide independent evaluation of functional travel ability within the facility, expert consultation and testimony on program access and the standard of care in blindness rehabilitation, analysis of whether facility policy governing mobility devices — including restrictions on the long white cane — can accommodate what the individual actually requires, and direct instruction delivered on site under a settlement, consent decree, or departmental remediation plan.
I am retained by plaintiffs’ counsel, protection and advocacy organizations, court-appointed monitors, and departments of correction alike, on the same neutral basis as every other matter.
Why Methodology Matters
My practice is grounded in Structured Discovery Cane Travel, an approach built on the cognitive model of cane travel and on established findings from the psychology of learning: skills a person constructs through their own reasoning are retained longer, transfer further, and hold up better under pressure than skills that are simply handed over. In a legal context, methodology is not a stylistic preference — it is what separates an opinion from a defensible framework. My assessments and recommendations rest on recognized cognitive-psychological constructs, including metacognition, self-efficacy, and skill transfer, which means they can be explained, examined, and defended step by step.
Credentials and Coverage
- Certification: National Orientation and Mobility Certification (NOMC), National Blindness Professional Certification Board.
- Education: M.A., Counseling and Guidance — Orientation and Mobility specialization, Louisiana Tech University; B.S., Psychology, Georgia State University.
- Experience: Nearly a decade on staff at a National Federation of the Blind training center, teaching students at every level and providing professional supervision to NOMC certification candidates.
- Scholarship: Active research and writing on how metacognitive learning develops during O&M instruction.
- Client range: Ages 3 through 80+; diverse etiologies and functional levels, including students with additional disabilities.
- Coverage: Based in New York City; available for cases throughout the United States and internationally. Travel expenses and travel rate are covered by the retaining party.
Fees and Retention
A fee schedule is available on request. Fees reflect the specialized nature of this work and the demand for qualified, independently credentialed O&M expertise in litigation and mediation contexts. To discuss a case, contact me directly — initial consultation inquiries are always welcome. Legal report writing samples and professional references available upon request.
Contact
Ben Schuler, M.A., NOMC — Traverse Instruction LLC
info@traverseinstruction.com | (770) 490-4991 | New York City