We may not all walk the same, but we all walk together.
What is Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI)?
As defined on the The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) CVI web site, cortical visual impairment (CVI) is a neurological visual disorder and is the fastest growing visual impairment diagnosis today. Cortical visual impairment (CVI) may be defined as bilaterally
diminished visual acuity caused by damage to the occipital lobes and or
to the geniculostriate visual pathway. CVI is almost invariably
associated with an inefficient, disturbed visual sense because of the
widespread brain disturbance.
It is my understanding that CVI has common characteristics and can be rated on a very detailed scale; however, no two children diagnosed with CVI will ever look the same. CVI is very similar in its wide range of variances from child to child as Cerebral Palsy (CP) is.
CVI is suspected by:
It is my understanding that CVI has common characteristics and can be rated on a very detailed scale; however, no two children diagnosed with CVI will ever look the same. CVI is very similar in its wide range of variances from child to child as Cerebral Palsy (CP) is.
CVI is suspected by:
- a normal or close to normal eye examination;
- a medical history which includes neurological problems; and
- the presence of unique visual/behavioral characteristics.
- Asphyxia
- Brain maldevelopment
- Head injury
- Infection
- Normal or minimally abnormal eye exam (CVI may co-exist with optic nerve atrophy, hypoplasia or dysplasia and ROP.)
- Difficulty with visual novelty (The individual prefers to look at old objects, not new, and lacks visual curiosity.)
- Visually attends in near space only
- Difficulties with visual complexity/crowding (Individual performs best when one sensory input is presented at a time, when the surrounding environment lacks clutter, and the object being presented is simple.)
- Non-purposeful gaze/light gazing behaviors
- Distinct color preference (Preferences are predominantly red and yellow, but could be any color.)
- Visual field deficits (It is not so much the severity of the field loss, but where the field loss is located.)
- Visual latency (The individual's visual responses are slow, often delayed.)
- Attraction to movement, especially rapid movements.
- Absent or atypical visual reflexive responses (The individual fails to blink at threatening motions.)
- Atypical visual motor behaviors (Look and touch occur as separate functions, e.g., child looks, turns head away from item, then reaches for it.)
- Inefficient, highly variable visual sense
