Accessible Test

CVI Assessment Kit & CVI Starter Kit

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Purpose

To provide educators with materials that will facilitate functional vision assessment of students with CVI. It will include a text that can be used for background information and instructions/procedures for conducting the CVI Range (Roman, 2001, 2005). Materials in the kit will be aimed at assessment of students who have severe (Phase I), moderate (Phase II), or mild (Phase III) CVI.

Project Staff

Christine Roman, CVI Project Leader

APH Production Staff
Background

CVI is the primary cause of visual impairment in children in the US and developed nations and presents unique challenges to educators. Most educational assessments and materials designed for students with ocular visual impairment are ineffective with students with CVI. The CVI Range provides educators with a specialized protocol for determining the degree and extent of CVI. Since functional educational visual assessment is mandatory for eligibility and program planning, this kit will support teachers in their efforts to make these decisions.

Work during FY 2009

This kit will contain a copy of the text by Christine Roman is complete and available for purchase. The text published by the American Foundation for the Blind contains assessment forms and assorted materials that may be used to conduct the assessment. This text forms the foundation for the specialized assessment used to evaluate the functional vision of infants, children, and older students who have CVI. The Assessment Kit will contain concrete materials, video examples, and additional guidelines for the completion of the assessment.

The Starter Kit, now integrated into the Assessment Kit product, will include “raw materials” used to make CVI specific adaptations to functional objects and materials used in daily routines. A guidebook will accompany this kit.
Work planned for FY 2010

Materials used in assessment will be developed to coordinate with specific aspects of the text. An instructional video will provide guided practice and examples of assessment strategies. An APH product review will be completed and changes will be made according to reviewer comments and recommendations.

CVI Complexity Challenges

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Purpose

To help students with CVI systematically identity details in two-dimensional materials. The design would be similar to the APH Common Object Pictures and could be used with or without the Lightbox. Each card sequence would begin with a single image; subsequent cards would add a single additional detail until approximately six details are added to the original image. The complexity cards could be stacked in any order so the student would be less likely to memorize image by position or order.

Project Staff

Christine Roman, Project Leader

Candace Jaworski, Graphic Designer, BISIG Impact Group
Background

This product addresses specific needs related to the CVI characteristic of visual complexity. Many students with CVI have difficulty visually attending to two-dimensional images and identifying salient details of pictures or symbols especially when the image is presented with additional details or elements.

Work during FY 2009

This product was developed in conjunction with Candace Jaworski from BISIG Impact Group. Candace Jaworski prepared illustrations that represent the salient image as well as the images that add complexity. An APH product review was completed and changes will be made according to reviewer comments and recommendations.

Work planned for FY 2010

CVI Challenges is currently being redesigned according to the comments provided by the field reviewers. The CVI Advisory Group will be asked for input regarding potential options for this product.

CVI Complexity Sequences

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Purpose

To help students with CVI practice locating a figure against backgrounds that increase in visual complexity. This product would be comprised of a series of sets in which the student would be asked to locate a common figure (apple, ball, shoe…) against backgrounds that increase in complexity. The overlay backgrounds would be overall patterns that begin with low complexity design. Overlay cards would increase in complexity requiring the student to extricate the figure from greater degrees of visual “clutter.” Each set would have five cards, one figure card, and four overlays of complexity. To provide guidelines regarding the medical conditions associated with a diagnosis of CVI.

Project Staff

Christine Roman, Project Leader

Candace Jaworski, Graphic Designer, BISIG Impact Group
Background

This product addresses specific needs related to the CVI characteristic of visual complexity. Many students with CVI have difficulty visually attending to two-dimensional images and identifying salient details of pictures or symbols especially when the image is against a patterned background.

Work during FY 2009

This product was developed in conjunction with Candace Jaworski from BISIG Impact Group. Jaworski prepared illustrations that represent the salient image as well as the images that add complexity. A manual has been developed to provide instructions and suggestions for use. An APH product review will be completed and changes were made according to reviewer comments and recommendations.

Work planned for FY 2010

This product will be available for sale in 2009 or early 2010.

CVI Stick & Stay Kit

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Purpose

To provide an independent child-centered activity or play kit used in conjunction with a student wheelchair or highchair tray. Billie Frayer from Dallas, Texas, developed an original form of this kit, the Stick & Stay Kit. The CVI version will have materials that have reduced visual complexity and that have strong elements of single color objects. The tray cover is a washable, black cloth material that has strips of Velcro used to attach the numerous elements contained in the kit.

Project Staff

Christine Roman, Project Leader

Tristan Pierce, Project Leader, Multiple Disabilities

APH Production Staff

Background

This product promotes increased independent play/exploration, visual attention and visual motor/function for students with CVI who require simple, moving, color materials. These principles are consistent with the principles of CVI found in the literature. Again, this CVI version is intended to meet the specific needs of students who require adaptations to materials based on the characteristic visual behaviors associated with CVI.

Work during FY 2009

Work on the CVI Stick & Stay has begun via discussions with Billie Frayer, the owner of the original product, Stick & Stay. Adaptations have been made to the background “mat” and to a number of the individual activities contained in the kit. Educators who work with students who have CVI and additional disabilities have met with the project leader and have offered suggestions that are being integrated into the CVI Kit.

Work planned for FY 2010

Adaptations and adjustments will continue to be made. An APH product review will be completed and changes will be made according to reviewer comments and recommendations. A manual will be developed to provide instructions and suggestions for use.