Resources

For Teachers, Staff, and families

For Teachers and Staff

VistaQuest, and particularly the BaseKit, are designed to provide an understanding of CVI, what the unique characteristics of CVI are, and why intervention is crucial. My vision for VistaQuest is that it becomes a resource that provides training for educational teams that includes all these aspects, as well as strategies that target each of the characteristics. VistaQuest is an approachable, trusted, resource for updated news and information for consistent intervention.

For Parents

Some of the most influential people in a child’s life are the family. In order for consistent intervention to occur that will create an impact, the family needs to be involved. Through my early years as a TVI, I felt there was more that could be accomplished if I could have a tool, or something, to offer the parents where they would feel confident working with their child. A tool where they could learn about CVI in way that was not stressful.

Being a parent and having gone through the experience of finding out your child has a visual impairment, I understand the feeling of hopelessness and not knowing where to turn or what to do. It was through my experience that I returned to grad school and became a Teacher for the Visually Impaired. I wanted other parents who are going through this to know they are not alone and that there is support available. While working in the field, I was continuously drawn to the specific visual impairment of cortical visual impairment. As I learned more about this diagnosis and that it was the one diagnosis where vision could actually develop through the development of new neural pathways, I became more and more intrigued. A dream began to form to be able to create a resource that parents and families could come to that would provide a place to start, ideas of what to do, and most of all, a feeling of hope.

I started creating this BaseKit during the time everyone had to stay home due to the Covid epidemic. This BaseKit provided a way to be able to work with families over zoom and coach them in how to work with their child. It was very effective and well received. 

Now that many students are back to being in school in person, it is even more effective when there is a BaseKit in both the classroom and the home. The students become very familiar with the materials, as well as the adults working with them. The strategies are carried over from home to school and vice versa. As a result, everyone is on the same page and the intervention is consistent giving the child the best chance of building those neural pathways and understanding the bigger picture.

  • CVI Scotland – everything there is to learn about CVI
  • CVI Now.org – Perkins School for the Blind Resource
  • FamilyConnect.org – is for parents/guardians of children with visual impairments. This is a place to connect with other families, join message boards. Watch videos featuring real families, read parenting articles and parent-authored blogs, and other comprehensive resources. Articles are also available in Spanish.
  • Kaleidoscope – The Cortical Visual Impairment Podcast: provides unique perspectives from families and professionals.
  • Little Bear Sees – Resources for parents by a parent of a child with CVI
  • TheCVIPerspective.wordpress.com – This is a blog started by Nai that is for those with CVI to share about direct lived experiences with CVI, from the inside out.
  • Wonder baby – geared for parents of children with visual impairments as well as children with multiple disabilities.

 

VistaQuest Development Research

  • Catteneo, Z., & Merabet, L.B. (2015). Brain Plasticity and Development. In Lueck, A.H., & Dutton, G.N (Eds). Vision and the Brain: Understanding Cerebral Visual Impairment in Children (pp. 105-123). New York, New York: American Federation for the Blind Press.
  • Eagleman, D. (2021). Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Eagleman, D. (2015). The Brain: The Story of You. New York: Vintage Books.
  • Nai. Nai’s CVI Perspective: “Bring forth an understanding of CVI from the inside out.”  https://www.perkins.org/resource/nais-cvi-perspective-bring-forth-an-understanding-of-cvi-from-the-inside-out/
  • Nai. The CVI Perspecitve. “An Open Letter to all Parents, Professionals, and other Loved Ones of Falks with Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI)” . https://thecviperspective.wordpress.com/home/
  • Roman-Lantzy, C. (2018). Cortical Visual Impairment: An Approach to Assessment and Intervention. 2nd ed., New York, New York: AFB Press.
  • Roman-Lantzy, C. & Tietjen, M. (2020). Sensory-Balance: An Approach to Learning Media Planning for Students with CVI. Watertown, MA: Perkins School for the Blind.
  • Steendam, M. (2015). Improving Functional Use of Vision for Children with CVI and Multiple Disabilities. In Dutton, G. & Lueck, A. Vision and the Brain: Understanding Cerebral Visual Impairment in Children (pp. 572-612). New York, New York: American Foundation for the Blind Press.

*Williams, C., Pease, A., Warnes, P., Harrison, S., Piulon, F., Hyvarinen, L., West, S., Self, J., Ferris, J., (2021). Cerebral Visual Impairment – related vision problems in primary school children: a cross sectional survey. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 63(6), 683-689. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dmcn.14819

  • Zuidhoek, S. (2015). The Role of Attention and Executive Brain Functions in Seeing and Behavior in Children with CVI. In Lueck, A.H., & Dutton, G.N (Eds). Vision and the Brain: Understanding Cerebral Visual Impairment in Children (pp. 124-144). New York, New York: American Federation for the Blind Press.

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