I work with a sixth grade student who has multiple disabilities and probably functions at about the one year old level. His eye doctors have not provided me with much useful information, other than he has hyperopia and esotropia and some of his visual difficulties may be result of hydrocephalus. He does have a behavior which indicates he may have CVI: He looks at object to pick up and then looks away while he is picking it up or pointing to it. My question since I don't have a lot of experience with CVI: Can he be taught to look at object while he is picking it up by practice or ? or does it just have to develop over time? Thanks for any help from those of you who have more experience with CVI, Diane, TVI

Hello Diane, CVI is a very heterogeneous group. You can get some introductory information on the APH.org website, http://www.seresc.net/cerebral-cortical-visual-impairment, Christine Roman's book (AFB), a new text by Lueck and Dutton (AFB), among others. The student you are describing may have dorsal stream dysfunction - children with dorsal stream dysfunction cannot use what they see to guide their movements so what your student may be doing is to look at the object and then look away because they cannot use what they see to guide their hand to reach - it is not a matter of 'it developing' or your teaching ... it is a "brain cannot process" issue. It is more complex that this simple explanation. Dr. Lea Hyvarinen has also written extensively and has produced many assessment tools that are helpful in teasing things out. Warm regards, Terese Terese Pawletko Ph.D. On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 12:58 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > I work with a sixth grade student who has multiple disabilities and > probably functions at about the one year old level. His eye doctors have > not provided me with much useful information, other than he has hyperopia > and esotropia and some of his visual difficulties may be result of > hydrocephalus. > He does have a behavior which indicates he may have CVI: He looks at > object to pick up and then looks away while he is picking it up or pointing > to it. > My question since I don't have a lot of experience with CVI: Can he be > taught to look at object while he is picking it up by practice or ? or > does it just have to develop over time? > Thanks for any help from those of you who have more experience with CVI, > Diane, TVI > > You are subscribed to AERNet, The Association for Education and > Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired Listserv. > > To post a message to all the list members, send an email to > [email protected]. > > Address list requests to: [email protected] > > To unsubscribe from this list, go to > http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/aernet_lists.aerbvi.org and > follow instructions to unsubscribe. Go to the same address to access the > list archives. > _______________________________________________ > AERNet mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/aernet_lists.aerbvi.org >

I have worked with so many children with CVI. What I have found the most helpful is having and/ or doing a good thorough CVI range assessment- I was trained by Dr. Romans- Lantzy on several occasions at workshops. The information you gain from the CVI range allows you to modify the environment and tasks so the child really has a chance to build visual behaviors and skills. I have had great success with this. I would also recommend both books mentioned by Terese as the CVI book be Dr. Romans-Lantzy is a great guide and the new book out on Cerebral Visual Impairment is fabulous as well- I have had mine for one week and can't get enough of it! Amy Rushforth, OTR/L, COMS On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 7:23 AM, terese pawletko <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello Diane, > CVI is a very heterogeneous group. You can get some introductory > information on the APH.org website, > http://www.seresc.net/cerebral-cortical-visual-impairment, Christine > Roman's book (AFB), a new text by Lueck and Dutton (AFB), among others. > The student you are describing may have dorsal stream dysfunction - > children with dorsal stream dysfunction cannot use what they see to guide > their movements so what your student may be doing is to look at the object > and then look away because they cannot use what they see to guide their > hand to reach - it is not a matter of 'it developing' or your teaching ... > it is a "brain cannot process" issue. It is more complex that this simple > explanation. Dr. Lea Hyvarinen has also written extensively and has > produced many assessment tools that are helpful in teasing things out. > > Warm regards, > Terese > Terese Pawletko Ph.D. > > On Wed, Apr 29, 2015 at 12:58 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I work with a sixth grade student who has multiple disabilities and >> probably functions at about the one year old level. His eye doctors have >> not provided me with much useful information, other than he has hyperopia >> and esotropia and some of his visual difficulties may be result of >> hydrocephalus. >> He does have a behavior which indicates he may have CVI: He looks at >> object to pick up and then looks away while he is picking it up or pointing >> to it. >> My question since I don't have a lot of experience with CVI: Can he be >> taught to look at object while he is picking it up by practice or ? or >> does it just have to develop over time? >> Thanks for any help from those of you who have more experience with CVI, >> Diane, TVI >> >> You are subscribed to AERNet, The Association for Education and >> Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired Listserv. >> >> To post a message to all the list members, send an email to >> [email protected]. >> >> Address list requests to: [email protected] >> >> To unsubscribe from this list, go to >> http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/aernet_lists.aerbvi.org and >> follow instructions to unsubscribe. Go to the same address to access the >> list archives. >> _______________________________________________ >> AERNet mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/aernet_lists.aerbvi.org >> > > > You are subscribed to AERNet, The Association for Education and > Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired Listserv. > > To post a message to all the list members, send an email to > [email protected]. > > Address list requests to: [email protected] > > To unsubscribe from this list, go to > http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/aernet_lists.aerbvi.org and > follow instructions to unsubscribe. Go to the same address to access the > list archives. > _______________________________________________ > AERNet mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.aerbvi.org/mailman/listinfo/aernet_lists.aerbvi.org > > -- *Amy Hadley Rushforth* *P.O. Box 685* *Lander, Wy* *82520* *307-714-0399* *"when i approach a child, he inspires in me two sentiments: tenderness for what he is and respect for who he shall become." Louis Pasteur*