Colour Tents & Vision Boxes

Colour Tents and Vision Boxes are a simple but effective way to Make It Easier To See.

What is a colour tent and how does it help? Colour Tents are useful for infants or children with complex needs who have limited visual awareness or attention. These children keep their vision switched off much of the time as using vision is complicated, overwhelming or there is simply too much information to process.

A colour tent is a piece of material which surrounds the child. A single bright colour – commonly orange, yellow or blue – reduces the visual ‘clutter’ and stimulates the retina (light sensitive lining of the eyeball) and visual cortex (part of the brain which coordinates vision). For older children we use a tent suspended from a frame. For younger children, a dome tent works well.

How often do you need to use a colour tent? Using a colour tent for short periods – 20-30 minutes – regularly can help the child gain visual awareness (switch vision on), lengthen their visual attention (keep it switched on for longer) and begin to locate or find objects. It can take several sessions for a change to be noticed. A switch on of vision may be shown by the child lifting their head, opening their eyes, or “stilling” (stop moving, stop making sounds).

What is a Vision Box? A Vision Box is a fabric cube which can be used on a desktop or tray table to reduce visual clutter both on the table surface and from distractions in the foreground or the edges of vision.

Placing objects, communication cards, even food items, inside the cube provides a plain high contrast background and can Make It Easier to see. They can promote visual detection and recognition, allowing the child to develop communication skills and make choices.

Where can I get a Vision Box? Many shops sell storage cubes (measuring about 40cm across) which can be obtained for around £3.

Where can I read more

There are a few case examples on the CVI Society website here , and series of blogs by Suzanne Little from CVI Society here