How can I help a child with CVI?

Each child with CVI needs a different recipe of ingredients to help them use their vision.

There are lots of lists of strategies – the only way to know is to pick an idea, give it a try and see if it helps.

Remember, hold in your mind

Make It Easier To See

and you won’t go wrong

If you are an eye health professional, its really helpful to include specific areas of visual dysfunction you have noticed so the vision team can direct their individual assessments effectively.

This can include:

  • Visual acuity (near and distance) or what size of object the child can see
  • Visual attention – how long the child can hold attention, and how long they need a break for
  • Visual field- where do they find it easiest to ’see’ objects, especially if they find it difficult to use their lower visual field
  • Visual movements – are they able to track objects, to move eyes quickly and accurately from one place to another
  • Visual guided movement – are they able to reach accurately for objects, can they move effectively through their world
  • Visual recognition – can they identify objects, faces, places.
  • Visual clutter – can they find objects from a pile or against a patterned background, do they find it harder in a busy or noisy environment.

A phrase such as ’This child’s vision is likely to impact their ability to access education, their learning or their independence’ can be very helpful in a letter to support VI team caseload allocation.

And here are some websites which you might find useful too