Increasing awareness of cortical visual impairment (CVI), the leading cause of visual impairment in children
Guest blog post by Peggy Palmer, TVI*
This week I arrived at a school just as Justine, a beautiful little four year old girl, was getting off her bus. Justine was recently diagnosed with cortical visual impairment (CVI) and is in Phase III on the CVI Range (Roman-Lantzy). She has some gross motor challenges and is verbal but with limited expressive language. Continue reading “CVI literacy when we least expect it”
When my son who has cortical visual impairment (CVI) was in preschool, it was important that he had visually accessible books. Most of the books in his classroom were filled with bright, multicolored, visually complex illustrations (complexity, Roman). Bright Baby makes a series of books that uses realistic photographic images and plain, solid color backgrounds. The books are inexpensive, easy to modify, and are one of the few items that CVI parents do not have to make themselves from scratch. Continue reading “CVI salient features books”
To kick off CVI Literacy Awareness in April, a post by Ellen Mazel on Building Literacy Around What Children Care About for students with cortical visual impairment (CVI), was a good reminder of a similar idea that helped my son. Continue reading “Tip: making CVI literacy meaningful”
This April is the first ever CVI Literacy Awareness Month. Literacy looks different for our kids who have cortical visual impairment (CVI) and requires a different approach. Continue reading “April is CVI Literacy Awareness Month”
When you are raising a child who has cortical visual impairment (CVI) – words matter. Until a few years ago, using a public restroom with my son was “no big deal.” Then one day we were waiting to use the womens’ bathroom. My son has a disability and, like other moms with young kids, we often use the disabled or “big” stall. This time the “big” stall was taken so we chose a “regular” one and that is when I made a critical mistake that haunts me to this day and said – “Let’s SQUEEZE in!” as we tried to make our way through the narrow metal door. It was the wrong choice of words, “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! NO SQUEEZE IN!!!” Jasper screamed, covering his ears, in a sudden state of pure panic, his body rigid and shaky. Not only did I need to use the bathroom myself but now had to calm my son over some kind of terror that I could not even see, let alone know how to fix. Continue reading “In the bathroom with my son who has CVI”
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