The last day of school, at last. The last day of a long year, a transition year. New school, new teachers, new students, new environment, new team mostly new to the disability of cortical visual impairment (CVI). The last weeks were about pushing through, the final sprint. New assessments and therapy appointments were put on hold. Sensory outings and activities with animals and swimming were instead written in. Today is the last Friday of second grade. Today is the last art class. Today is the last pizza day. The countdown began. Continue reading “Last day of school”
Category: faces
As my son’s OT session wrapped up, the therapist began talking to him, summarizing what they worked on, reminding him of his homework. “Next week, you’re going to make a ham sandwich with mayonnaise…” As soon as she started talking, my son turned and looked away, down toward the floor. Noticing this, the therapist stopped mid sentence and called his name. In her mind, his looking away meant, He’s not paying attention, he’s not interested, he’s not listening to me. It was easy to see how she had misinterpreted his turning away as a loss of attention and interest. For my son who has cortical visual impairment (CVI), this kind of thing happens on a daily basis. Continue reading “It’s not you, CVI, it’s me.”
Yesterday was a Monday, from start to finish. You know everything is going to be extra challenging when you drop off your child with cortical visual impairment (CVI) at school and learn that his paraprofessional is out that day. We all have our emergencies, and it was her turn. Children with CVI rely on predictability and routine, especially when it comes to their people. A day of multiple people and transitions is not an easy prospect. It turned out that the unexpected day provided an unexpected opportunity for his teacher to see my son’s CVI. Continue reading “Seeing CVI at school”
“Mommy, I can’t wear my glasses trick or treating because my mask goes over my face.” Until then it had not occurred to me that his head to toe Batman costume meant that friends would not likely recognize him at the first trick or treat in our new town. Stricter school security meant no access to classrooms, no access to kids, parents, families at his new school. The hope was that Halloween would mean bumping into some new school friends, meeting other families. Having a child with cortical visual impairment (CVI) who cannot recognize faces, makes it extra hard to recognize friends on Halloween. Continue reading “Trick or treating with CVI”
Children with cortical visual impairment (CVI) are inherently sensory kids. At least mine is, everywhere, all the time. Because of brain differences, sensory processing is different. In addition to vision, this means hearing, smells, taste, touch are different too. These differences are a part of nearly everything we do, every single day. And it is addressed in many ways. Continue reading ““Brave As Can Be: A Book of Courage””
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