What is CVI?
Cerebral vision impairment (CVI) is an umbrella term for a variety of brain-related visual and perceptual difficulties that affect the way a person sees the world around them. It has been recognised as the most common cause of childhood visual impairment in developed countries.
Children with cerebral visual impairment usually experience difficulties seeing objects clearly, even though their eyesight appears normal. They often struggle to recognise faces, colours, numbers, letters, shapes, and patterns. Some children with cerebral visual impairment may also have difficulty reading.
Due to the vast spectrum of difficulties associated with the condition, a wide range of CVI tools have been developed to assess the functional impact that CVI has on an individual.
One of these tools is the CVI Range, designed by Christine Roman-Lantzy as a framework for assessment and intervention. Research studies have shown that the CVI Range assessment results in a consistent and reliable measure of functional vision.
Whilst there’s no cure for CVI, our vision rehabilitation and therapy support can help our young people make the most of their vision. CVI problems may improve over time for some individuals, however, this isn’t a guarantee.
Read more about CVI or watch our conversation with Dr Jonathan Waddington.
Implementing the CVI Range at InFocus
We have run a CVI Range program within the school and college since 2015, after piloting the framework with individual students in previous years. A full-time member of our staff was trained to conduct CVI Range assessments, to recommend environmental adaptations and interventions based on the CVI Range framework, and to deliver training for classroom staff to raise awareness of CVI. 28 students between the ages of 11 and 22 took part in the program for at least one year and 10 students took part in the program for over three years.
The impact on our students
We were able to measure robust improvements in functional vision each year for our students as a group.
From the measure of lowest functional vision to the measure of highest functional vision, the CVI Range scores are:- 0-1, 1-2, … , 9-10.
Baseline assessment scores were 5-6 on average, but ranged from 1-2 to 7-8. Scores increased by one rank per year on average for the first two years and improvements began to plateau in the third year. Only the time enrolled on the program was associated with improvements on the CVI Range scores. Neither age nor baseline scores appeared to influence improvements. There was even indication of improvements in quality of life for some students, associated with the improvements in functional vision.
We presented these results at the European Society for Low vision Research and Rehabilitation (ESLRR) and were awarded with the prize for the best poster presentation.
CVI Range Assessments
The InFocus College offers ‘CVI Range’ assessments to families, local authorities or other agencies who want to gain a better understanding of a young person’s functional vision. This is also includes some positive suggestions and strategies for making the most effective use of that vision. CVI Assessments are conducted by InFocus staff who are experienced in the education and habilitation of young people with a visual impairment.
The assessment process involves;
- Interviews with parents/carers – parents and carers are key to gaining a better understanding of a child’s functional vision
- Direct face to face assessment – a structured vision assessment is conducted to confirm some basic visual abilities
- Informal observations – unstructured functional vision assessment in an appropriate multi-sensory environment.
The aim of the assessment is to identify the presence of typical characteristics of CVI in an individual child and to evaluate the impact each of the characteristics has on a young person’s learning and living. The combination of these elements of the assessment identifies where on the ‘CVI Range’ a young person is and indicates what interventions and adaptations could be employed in order to help the young person to make sense of and best use the functional vision they have.
Read our Cerebral Visual Impairments (CVI) and the CVI Range Assessment – a guide for parents
If you would like more information including costs please email or call 01392 454200.
