Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code SRI

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.

Also called: Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS), Orientation and Mobility Specialist (O and M Specialist), Vision Rehabilitation Therapist (VRT), Visually Impaired Teacher (TVI), Certified Low Vision Therapist (CLVT), Mobility Specialist, Orientation and Mobility Instructor (O and M Instructor), Rehabilitation Teacher.

O*NET 29-1122.01

At a glance

US median annual pay: $100,330; Middle half earn $82,510 to $116,670. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Master's Degree; 57% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 5 of 5; Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +14% · Much faster than average; 160,000 jobs in 2024, projected 182,100. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Occupational therapists".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

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).
Develop rehabilitation or instructional plans collaboratively with clients, based on results of assessments, needs, and goals.
Write reports or complete forms to document assessments, training, progress, or follow-up outcomes.
Train clients to use tactile, auditory, kinesthetic, olfactory, and proprioceptive information.
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.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Active Listening4.0 / 5
Speaking4.0 / 5
Learning Strategies4.0 / 5
Reading Comprehension3.9 / 5
Writing3.8 / 5
Active Learning3.8 / 5

Knowledge areas

English Language4.3 / 5
Education and Training4.2 / 5
Psychology3.8 / 5
Transportation3.7 / 5
Customer and Personal Service3.6 / 5
Therapy and Counseling3.5 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic49
Investigative48
Artistic37
Social92
Enterprising19
Conventional31

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

physiotherapist · DE Physiotherapeut/Physiotherapeutin · FR physiothérapeute
speech and language therapist · DE Sprachtherapeut/Sprachtherapeutin · FR orthophoniste
optometrist · DE Optometrist/Optometristin · FR optométriste
orthoptist · DE Orthoptist/Orthoptistin · FR orthoptiste
occupational therapist · DE Ergotherapeut/Ergotherapeutin · FR ergothérapeute
occupational therapy assistant · DE Ergotherapieassistent/Ergotherapieassistentin · FR assistant ergothérapeute/assistante ergothérapeute

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Occupational therapists (2222)56,000 employed
Podiatrists (2256)16,200 employed
Optometrists (2252)18,900 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.12. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (29-1122).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test