Cortical visual impairment (CVI) Report

8/8/2019 Cortical visual impairment (CVI) Report

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CorticalCortical VisualVisual IImpairmentmpairment(CVI)(CVI)

A neurological condition where there has been

damage to the visual processing and visual

pathways of the brain.


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What does it mean?What does it mean?

CVI effects how an individual

understands the visual information received

by the eyes. Children w/ CVI are complex

children. Most children with CVI have more

than a single disability. In fact, the conditions

that cause CVI frequently cause otherdisabilities including developmental delay

and cerebral palsy.


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A diagnosis of CVI does not mean a

persons brain is damaged in any otherway, but can often be accompanied by

other neurological problems, most

common being epilepsy.A

child wit

hCVIwill have vision that fluctuates, sometimes

day to day, or minute to minute, often

based on fatigue. Their vision may change

over time but rarely is completelynormal.


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Unique Visual/BehavioralUnique Visual/Behavioral

Ch

aracteristicsCh

aracteristicsy A normal or minimally abnormal eye

exam (although CVI may co-exist with optic nerveatrophy, hypoplasia or dysplasia and ROP)

y Difficulty with visual noveltyThe child prefers familiar objects over novel

things that they havent seen before. Targets that

are too novel are frequently missed or simply

ignored. Although, faces are often too complex

to recognize.


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Simplified ViewVisually attends in near space only

Difficulties with visualcomplexity/crowding

May be difficult to make sense ofvisual clutter

Prefer objects w/ a non-complex or plainsurface. Highly patterned or those thathave many colors may be ignored-beginintervention using a single, favorite color.

Prefer simple visual array

Background should be plain and contrasting.


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y Non-purposeful gaze/light gazing behaviorsLight Gazing is typical-may be a sign that the student hasvery few visually appropriate targets to look at. The lightbox is used as a motivator rather than a form of non-purposeful gaze.

y Distinct color preferencePreferences are predominantly red and yellow, but couldbe any color.

y Visual field deficitsIt is not so much the severity of the field loss, but wherethe field loss is located. Peripheral visual field function isusually a strength-tend to notice movement relativelyeasily.


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y Visual latencyThe individual's visual responses are slow, oftendelayed. -Visual latency increases when the child is sickor tired.

y Attraction to movement, especially rapidmovements.Child is interested in objects that move or havereflective properties.

y Absent or atypical visual reflexive responses

The individual fails to blink at t

hreatening motions.


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y Atypical Visual Motor Behaviors

Look and touch occur as separate functions, e.g., childlooks, turns head away from item, then reaches for it.Looking and reaching may be difficult. They often look,look away, and then reach for an object. They mayexhibit a head turn when they look at or reach for anobject in which they are interested. They seem to focus

on the object very fleetingly and then turn their head tothe side as they reach. They seem to use a combinationof central and peripheral vision. They also are frequentlyseen to reach or point just beside an object and thenslide their hand or finger to the target.


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SoWhat is Beneficial?SoWhat is Beneficial?y Individual performs best when: one sensory input is presented at a time

when the surrounding environment lacks clutter

the object being presented is simple. Low temp lamps/task lighting placed at close

range

Reflective materials can be

added to functional materials like

the childrens cup or toothbrush.


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Suggestions for InterventionSuggestions for Intervention

Other senses overwhelm vision-often chooselistening to sound as an easier input over vision.

Multisensory toys may be overwhelming to listento and look at simultaneously.

Know the length of your individual studentstypical response time.

Provide ample wait time for the studentsresponse.

Some students w/ CVI who cant find a moving target inthe environment they may initiate movement w/ theirbody. They move their body or their head back and forthrepeatedly in an attempt to find a target or make visualattention easier.


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BeadsBeadsy Fill the bag with warm water and

release transparent, colored beadsinto the water. The slightest touchwill create movement without

auditory competition. Again,color, light and movementproperties should attract thechild's visual attention. Even theslightest touch will create

movement of the beads facilitatingindependent interaction with thematerials. Begin with single colorbeads.


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ShapesShapes

y Add shapes cut from acetate sheets. Shapepunches from craft stores work very well.

y Look for colored transparent objects thatcan be used in the zip lock bags from dollarstores. Select objects that have roundededges. Bingo chips and small plastic ballswork well.


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Materials with reflective properties can beuseful in stimulating peripheral vision andtherefore, the desire to direct visualattention toward the moving target.

The following materials may be useful inmotivating and individual to look


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y Reflective "cuffs" can be slipped onto

utensils to encourage the individual to

visually attend to the spook/forkthroughout mealtime.Again, match the

color and/or the pattern to the

individual's favorite.


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Other movement materialsOther movement materials

((nonnon--reflective)reflective)


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Two DimensionalTwo Dimensional MaterialsMaterials

Moving from objects to pictures requirescareful planning. The following suggestions

provide a framework for this progression.

y Match familiar objects to same pictures and

present in pairs.


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y Simple color, translucent pictures

y Or Simple Books..!


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This concludes my

functionalCVI

Report.

Documents

Cortical visual impairment (CVI) Report