When it comes to looking at books with my son who has cortical visual impairment (CVI), there is a specific approach. He is in Phase III CVI (Roman-Lantzy) and there are some books that we buy off the shelf, and look at unmodified. As always, when it comes to choosing books, the goal is to feed his interest in literacy by choosing subjects that will be meaningful and motivating. Recently we picked up This is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from Around the World, by Matt Lamothe. My son is incredibly social and highly interested in people and other kids, my suspicion was that he would like the book. Since buying it several weeks ago, Jasper has read it every night at bedtime. When he reads the book to me in the dim evening light, I can tell that he has the book memorized. Continue reading “What do you see? How do you know?”
Category: CVI literacy
* Guest blog post by Judy Endicott
“Intervention must be driven by intention, not by materials.” – Christine Roman, 2018
Think about your own adult reading behaviors. Think about the range of choices of materials you have to choose from. Sometimes you pick materials based on length, sometimes on size of text, amount of pictures, subject and a range of other factors. You pick and choose, driven by goals and tempered by your energy and motivation.
So what about our CVI readers? How do we help children with cortical visual impairment (CVI) develop literacy skills? What about our kids in classrooms where the reading curriculum is not accessible to them without appropriate accommodations based on their needs (CVI Range, Roman)? Most of the school material available for their interventions is not appropriate without modification.
What does a parent, teacher, therapist do?
We search for what is motivating to our CVI reader and figure out how to present letters and text and images based on the child’s specifics determined by the CVI Range (Roman).
We customize our approaches and interventions to match the needs of our CVI reader so we can get our reader to develop and use visual skills.
Make no mistake. This isn’t quick, easy, or a task with an end point.
But by learning as much as we can about CVI, sharing ideas on literacy with each other, and arming ourselves with knowledge of the child’s use of functional vision (CVI Range score, Roman), we can make our literacy materials match our student’s needs.
Pictures, explanations, and samples coming soon in subsequent blog posts.
*Guest blog post by former educator, Judy Endicott. Judy is a reading specialist who taught in regular and special education classrooms, and worked as a reading specialist at the elementary level. She is also a Level 1 certified Wilson Reading Program teacher. Judy is the grandparent of River, who was diagnosed with cortical visual impairment (CVI) at 11 months old.
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”
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”
