cortical visual impairment training

CVI (cortical visual impairment or cerebral visual impairment) is the leading cause of visual impairment among children in the United States. It is caused by damage to the brain, where the visual information is processed. When this process is disrupted, the brain cannot interpret what the eyes see, and therefore results in visual impairment.
Children with CVI can “learn to see” with proper intervention. This usually requires individual assessment using The CVI Range developed by Dr. Christine Roman-Lantzy; and based on the assessment results, proper intervention strategies can be developed. There are three phases in The CVI Range assessment. This software application is designed for children in CVI phase II. Children at this phase start to combine vision with function. It is important to teach salient features of the visual targets. This will not only help support the use of ventral stream used for detail vision; but also help build and expand visual schemes and representations of the world. The best way of teaching salient features at early stage is to take photos of the familiar targets and highlight the salient features (e.g. duck’s bill and webbed feet). This software will allow user to upload the pictures, highlight the salient features and display the salient features on demand. It also provides some simple configuration functions such as choosing different colors or different width of the line used for highlight. It provides a convenient way for educators and parents to build a library of visual targets to teach the children.
(Dong Mei)