Department of Blind Rehabilitation. Home Graduate Blind Rehabilitation Welcome Welcome to the web pages of the Department of Blind Rehabilitation. Our programs address the needs of children, working-age adults, and older adults. Our graduate offerings prepare students to be orientation and mobility specialists, rehabilitation teachers, teachers of visually impaired children, and rehabilitation counselors. Our baccalaureate program in travel instruction educates students to meet the independent travel needs of people with disabilities other than blindness.
Most programs provide tuition assistance to qualified individuals.
The Department of Blind Rehabilitation at Western Michigan University sponsors the oldest, largest, and one of the best known blind rehabilitation programs in the world. Graduates can be found in almost every state in the nation and in many foreign countries. Some faculty are also certified as rehabilitation counselors. The master's level program was established in 1961 and was a response to the need for professionals to rehabilitate the many military personnel blinded as the result of World War II and the Korean War. With the help of federal and other grant funding, today the department offers five specialized curricula , some being established for the first time at any institution.