- What tools or strategies have you found most effective in helping general education staff understand the nuances of CVI-related behaviors? What misunderstandings have been most persistent?
When I read through these questions, a situation from a meeting immediately jumped into my head. Though this family ultimately decided to withdraw from the process to transition into preschool, citing concerns about their child getting sick in school due to numerous medical issues, the impact of this meeting never left me.
At one of the initial meetings, all the other therapists were there, including OT and PT. Both disciplines were trying to have this student do various physical things using toys and objects. The student was on a gym mat on the floor, and the overhead fluorescent lights were on. This student has trisomy 18, a tracheostomy, and is DeafBLind. The therapists weren’t having much success with this student tracking or reaching for numerous objects they were presenting, as she was fixated on the harsh overhead lighting.
I asked if we could turn off the overhead lights. There was still natural light coming in from the windows, which we were far away from. Using my phone light and a few toys of interest I found, I demonstrated using the flashlight to illuminate the object, and the student was able to track it past midline. She started engaging with the toy by reaching for it with her stronger hand. I said the black mat was great for contrast and mentioned a black trifold that would also be helpful.
These implementations are all in my FVA/LMA that I go over with the IEP team at the meetings; however, we haven’t gone over that yet. This was the transition and the time she was being observed/assessed by other therapists.
A few things went through my mind that day. Had their assessment been done in isolation, they would have gotten different results that day due to not knowing about environmental factors and interventions to consider in students with CVI. A powerful way to teach others about CVI that was swift is putting the interventions into place in real time and showing other team members how simple and powerful they can be.
It made me question how many of these students get evaluated and assessed in ways not meaningful concerning their CVI? Is there a way that team members assessing students can be informed of suggestions/tips/interventions that would provide meaningful assessment data on that student? It may include Roman Word bubbling, a black trifold, a direct light behind the student (spotlighting),
The most glaring lack of understanding that has been more persistent is the need for certain toys (depending on where the child is in their CVI progression) that may be a single color, have reflective properties, or light up. Therapists often use what is in the classroom for assessments, and this may not be appropriate for kids with CVI.
The other issue that general education teachers may not understand is the busyness of their classrooms. Often, these classrooms are covered in posters, calendars with busy pictures that add to the complexity, toys in numerous bins in shelves throughout the classroom, bright fluorescent lights, and circle time rugs that are busy as well.
Gently bringing that to their attention and showing pictures of what an ideal environment looks like for their student with CVI has helped. I’ve taken pictures from the home environment of what has worked and embedded that into the students’ “personal passport” that goes over the student and what works/doesn’t work for them.
Just like the video shown that explained how to help parents start out by tweaking something ever so slightly, I think we need to approach the general education team in the same manner. Educating them on easy strategies that make a world of difference for our kids can help tremendously!