Do you feel that SLP need more training and support when it comes to learning how to incorporate communication with vision?
Hello,
I work with children 0-3 years old in their home. I use this opportunity to educate parents about how to modify their home environment in order to best support their child with CVI. I buy black cardboard trifiolds for Hobby Lobby to give to parents. This and a darker/black colored blanket/towel, etc. provide an excellent area for their children to start building visual skills.
Iâll show parents how to place the trifold where light from a window or lamp will illuminate the area. Working on this in the home environment then transitions nicely when the time comes for transitioning from Part C to Part B. Giving parents the knowledge, terminology and knowing what is best for their child enables them to be excellent advocates when they transition to the school setting.
In addition, non-cluttered places is not only good for kids with CVI but for children in general. This is an excellent article that speaks to that point.
Decluttering Your Classroom
Where teachers aspire to work miracles, their surroundings should help and not hinder them.
I love this post! The strategeis and their progression in relationship to his changing needs is spot on! I bring a Visual Edge Slant Board and use that with my 0-3 students, with great success. It always amazes me at how simply tweaking a few things, providing respite during a chaotic time, etc. can yield tremendous results with these students.
I absolutely love the way to describe his âvisual batteryâ and ways to charge that up. Energy levels and ups and downs are true for not only our students but for people in general. We all have our different ways of recharging ourselves. I think this may hit home for others to understand the need for students with CVI to take a visual break. Educating others on what those students symptoms are of visual fatigue (irritable, rubbing eyes, not engaging, etc.) can be instrumental for teachers to recognize and response to.
Reflect on a time when assumptions about development or vision influenced how a student with CVI was understood or supported. What assumptions did you or others bring to the situation? How did those assumptions affect the approach or expectations? What helped shift your perspective?
Working with family and staff to complete the Perkins Protocol helped everyone shift their perspectives and question their assumptions on what âbehaviorsâ were related to vision and what behaviors might just be related to being a teenager! Combining information from all team members provided a perspective that would focus on the student and their needs at all times. Keys to shifting perspective were to have open avenues of communication, observing the student in various classes on a regular basis, and communicating with family regularly.
I agree. I donât know about current TVI programs, but if I did not pursue training on my own, I would not have the knowledge to create effective programming. And there is SO MUCH to learn. I feel like I have bits and pieces of information that are beneficial, however each student has their own needs so each student is a new case study! I feel like I will never know enough, but working with a team we become so much better at providing for the student.
I like the the idea of teaching the child accommodations for their current visual ability rather than trying to make them âsee betterâ. Thank you for the reminder to be aware of the auditory environment that might be interfering with the studentâs ability learn/process information. I am going to keep thinking about CVI as a brain-based impairment.
- To what extent do existing professional preparation programs (across fields) equip practitioners to understand and serve students with CVI?
CVI is such a complex and ever evolving brain based eye condition that I believe that it is rather hard to prepare professionals to fully grasp and understand what CVI is. As someone whose graduate program did include a course on CVI and a section on how to assess CVI within a FVA and LMA, I felt it did prepare me for understanding the basics of CVI. But, as we all know CVI is unique to the individual and can present the varying manifestations within the individual in different ways. I have learned a lot from working with the students and through various professional development.
However, I originally was planning on being an elementary school teacher and received my Bachelors in Elementary Education. When I was in undergrad (2008-2012), very little information on any sort of disabilities were discussed in any coursework other than âyou will have special needs students in your classroomâ and âthe special ed teacher will teach you how to work with the student.â We did additionally get a little overview of common disabilities, but nothing else. I would also add that there was no information on any common eye conditions or hearing based conditions at all. I did not even know about CVI until I was in the Special Education field as an inclusion teacher, and only because there was a VI student at the school.
While I can ramble about this a lot, I will finish by stating that I feel like VI related programs do prepare TVIâs and O&M specialists in the basics of CVI and how to assess them. Due to the complexity of CVI it is rather hard to prepare for all contingencies and possible presentations of CVI, but does help the TVI and O&M Specialist problem solve and have resources to help. However, I do not believe many of the âgeneral educationâ programs geared towards teachers who will be working with the mainstream students do not receive any background on CVI. Many do not know about this condition unless they had a student or will be receiving a student with CVI.
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I agree with everything you discussed. I love how you added how important the observations from the parents are. Even if they do not necessarily see the same things as we do in the school setting, it can help the team problem solve and see what can be done to help support the child. Collaboration is important and knowing what questions to ask is even more important.
I love how you pointed out the busy/cluttered classrooms. While cute and âPinterest Worthy,â many of these types of classrooms not only affect our students with CVI, but many neurodivergent students as well. I have learned to be minimalist in my classroom even though I have always wanted to go âfull outâ on my classroom whenever I got one (I had an office space, but never a classroom until I switched districts 3 years ago). I noticed over the years that the more minimal decor in the classroom the more calm our neurodiverse students are.
- What are the key similarities and differences among the three sets of terminology (Visual Behaviors, Characteristics, and Manifestations) used to describe CVI, and how might these differences impact a teamâs understanding of CVI and its impact on a student?
Hereâs a paragraph framed using the terminology definitions and distinctions provided by Pennsylvaniaâs CVI: A BrainâBased Visual Impairment resource on PaTTAN:
Pennsylvaniaâs PaTTAN guidance clarifies that while Visual Behaviors, Characteristics, and Manifestations each employ different terminology to describe CVI, they really refer to the same core visual differencesâjust from different angles (Perkins, Roman-Lantzy, and Lueck et al. respectively) (Pattan). Visual Behaviors (e.g. visual attention, impact of clutter, form accessibility, visual guidance of limbs) capture what can be seen in a studentâs eye movements and responses (Perkins School for the Blind). Characteristics (such as color preference, visual latency, need for movement, atypical reflexes) are the foundational brain-based features identified in formal assessments like the CVI Range (Pattan). Manifestations describe how those underlying features show up in functional or learning tasksâe.g. in visual search, recognition of objects, response to faces, copying or depth perception challenges (Pattan). Although each uses a distinct label and organization, all three approaches address the same domains of visual processing: what a student does (behavior), why they do it (characteristic), and how it affects learning (manifestation). Used together, they help teams move from observing, to diagnosing, to planning supportsâbut misunderstanding the labels or treating them as separate phenomena can fragment a teamâs shared understanding of a studentâs CVI profile.
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Hereâs a more professional rewrite that connects your personal experience to CVI and visual clutter, while maintaining the authenticity of your story:
Early in my teaching career, I enthusiastically decorated my classroom, filling walls and surfaces with colorful displays and materials. Despite my best intentions, I struggled with significant behavior challenges in the first months of the school year and could not determine the cause. Midway through the year, an RTI coordinator observed my classroom and suggested that the environment itself might be contributing to the difficulties. Together, we began systematically removing excess visual stimuliâtaking down posters, clearing surfaces, and reducing the number of items within studentsâ direct line of sight. Within just a few days, I observed a marked improvement in student engagement and behavior.
At the time, I had never heard of Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) or the concept of visual clutter. Looking back, it is clear that simplifying the environment benefited all students, including those who were typically developing. For students with CVI, this kind of environmental adjustment is even more critical. Visual clutter can overwhelm the visual system, making it harder to locate, recognize, and interpret important information. Because no two students with CVI present in exactly the same way, careful assessment of both visual and auditory clutter is essential. Identifying and addressing these environmental barriers ensures that students with CVI have the best possible access to instruction and meaningful participation in daily academic activities.
I agree lighting is an issue for one of my students.
Among my students with Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI), visual needs vary significantly. For example, one student requires backlighting and a black background in order to effectively view bright, three-dimensional objectsâyet this type of lighting support is not necessary for every student with CVI.
Another student presented a different profile during her initial functional vision assessment. She had difficulty remaining seated, frequently standing or bending over her desk to complete simple tasks. She demonstrated a strong preference for brightly colored materials, such as stacking blocks and puzzles, and could reliably recognize familiar people and faces. While she was able to identify individual letters and numbers, she often struggled to recognize sequences, frequently losing accuracy after the first letter or number.
Further observation indicated reduced attention to items in her upper and right visual fields. To address these challenges, environmental and material modifications were implemented, including the use of a slant board, yellow paper for improved contrast, and reduction of visual clutter in her workspace. These adjustments resulted in noticeable improvements in her ability to remain seated for longer periods and maintain focus on assigned tasks. Additionally, the use of bold, well-spaced print has supported her ability to distinguish and identify individual letters within words
- One of the children I have worked with began sessions in the regular preschool setting with 15 of her peers. During my initial visit, I emphasised the importance of the optimal environment (reduction of visual clutter, introduction of contrasting backgrounds, trialling the orange tent) and consistent daily routines. Luckily the class teacher was very keen to follow my advice. The child also had an individualised education plan.
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This is really well described. I liked how you have emphasised that the three sets of terminology address the same domains of visual processing.
I agree with you and thank you for sharing the link.
I also believe that some of the approaches to supporting students with CVI are actually useful for other children, too.