What to Include in an IEP for a Student Who Has CVI

With the help of TVI Matt Tietjen*, we have compiled a list of considerations when writing an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for a student who has cortical visual impairment (CVI). IEPs look different from state to state, but contain the same information. If you are a parent or a provider who works with a child with CVI, no matter where you live, here are some ideas to think about. It should be noted that our source for all discussion of CVI, the phases, the ten characteristics, accommodations and modifications is Cortical Visual Impairment: An Approach to Assessment and Intervention (2007, AFB Press) by Christine Roman-Lantzy.

Training on Cortical Visual Impairment

Due to the lack of awareness and knowledge of CVI among providers, let’s start with ongoing training on cortical visual impairment. The place to do that is in the IEP under Support for School Personnel. When you specify CVI training for the educational team, it is exactly that – it is for the entire team and cannot target individual team members, such as vision teachers or new team members. When adding this, you should also note the frequency of CVI training (monthly, quarterly, annually, etc.).

About Accommodations and Modifications

  

Ideas for Accommodations and Modifications

• Bold color marker for writing (Color)
• Highlighting school worksheets and materials in student’s preferred color (Color)
• Use of iPad for backlighting of materials to increase visual attention and decrease visual fatigue (Light, Complexity)
• Use of slantboard (Visual field)
• Use of visual occluder (Complexity of array)
• Extra time to look at materials (Latency)
• Allow for close range examination of materials (Complexity of array)
• Preferred seating. This will look different for each student and should include factors such as visual field, light (facing away from windows) and movement (busy school hallways), and the amount of visual complexity within the student’s visual field. Alternatively, you could say, Use black fabric to reduce visual complexity within the classroom (Visual field, Light, Movement, Complexity of array).
• When looking at pictures of objects, highlight and talk about 2-3 salient features (Roman-Lantzy) (Color)
• When looking at new objects or pictures, use Comparative Language to talk about how the item is similar or different to an object the student is familiar with (Roman-Lantzy)
• When introducing new sight words, add a red bubble outline around the word and discuss salient features of the word (listen to Dr Roman on Phase III literacy here)

• Orient work sheets and materials left to right, for purposes of preliteracy (Visual field)
• Vision breaks are so important for students who have CVI. These should happen in an area with little visual or sensory input. For some kids, this can be as simple as the child closing his eyes and resting his head on the desk for a few minutes.
• No laminating. Or opt for matte laminate, a non-glossy laminate that works better for some students. No glare. (Light, Movement)
• Link the accommodation to the CVI Characteristic (color, complexity, light, novelty, etc.). An example is “Close examination of materials (Complexity).” Close examination is not about acuity – it allows the student to reduce complexity by blocking out background visual information that makes it harder for the student to look at the object.
• Student orientation to new classroom and teacher prior to the first day of school (Complexity, Movement, Novelty, Sensory Complexity). Orienting to a new classroom and teacher should happen before the first day of school, in an environment with reduced sensory complexity. Focus on meeting the new teacher, learning the classroom layout, finding the student’s desk and cubby, and orienting to a new classroom location within the school building.
• When writing IEP goals, build the accommodation into the goal, including non-vision goals (“Susie will cut a 1/4″ thick red line with scissors”)
• Personal copies of materials for morning meeting (calendar, attendance, word of the day, weather, etc.). Even if a student is sitting close enough to see the materials from an acuity standpoint, the complexity from a distance of even a few feet is often too much to process even for some children in Phase III (distance, complexity of array).
• Personal copies of all important wall materials (word walls, class rules, math facts, etc.). Student can have a photo album on his iPad titled “wall materials” with a photograph of each item. While the class is reviewing the word wall, for example, the child can refer to the photo of the word wall on his iPad (distance, complexity of array).

Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC)

Compensatory Skills  – This may be the least self-explanatory area and can look so different for each child!

• Using objects or images to represent items from a choice board, communication system, daily schedule, or story
• Teaching a child listening comprehension, so that he can access the curriculum through auditory text either because she cannot read words yet or in order to have the option to continue reading while taking a visual break.
• Teaching a child to color highlight passages of text and other materials to help reduce complexity of array and enable her to access those materials.

Sensory Efficiency Skills

• Employ color coding to a child’s daily schedule system to teach her to read, and set up the schedule from left to right. For example, have a green dot at the beginning of the schedule and a red dot at the end of the schedule and teach child to organize schedule from green to red.
• Teaching salient features (Roman-Lantzy) to help child build visual identification abilities.
• Color coding of items on child’s lunch tray (i.e. spoon is yellow, bowl is blue, etc.) so that child can use vision to locate meal items more efficiently and with less visual fatigue during lunch time.

For Students on an Academic Track

Present Levels of Performance

Support with Goals and Objectives