What term refers to verbalizing the thought process during orientation and mobility instruction?

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Parallel talk is verbalizing your thinking aloud while guiding a person who is blind or visually impaired during orientation and mobility instruction. By narrating the environment you notice, the decisions you make, and the actions you take, you model how to interpret cues, plan a route, and respond to obstacles. For example, you might say, "I see the curb cut ahead; I’ll feel for the texture with my cane and check for oncoming traffic before we step off." This helps the learner build a toolkit of strategies and supports independent problem-solving by making invisible reasoning visible. Over time, you can fade the narration as the student grows more proficient. Other terms would refer to maps, positional references, or abstract information about location, which isn’t about sharing the live thinking process, so they don’t fit this instructional approach.