Challenges from Complexity for Children and Young People with Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI)

The advice we give for children with CVI is good for all children. One of the key ways you can help your child with their learning is by making the tasks they have to do as simple as possible. Here is some advice how to do it:

If a child with CVI is showing anxiety, having outbursts or seems withdrawn when they are trying to work it could be that it is all too much for them.  This could be due to the complexity of their environment. 

Consider the environment that your child is trying to work in.

• are there people moving around?

• are there visual distractions, things on the desk and/or on the surrounding walls?

• are there too many sounds/voices around? 

Classrooms and homes can be very busy places. There can be a lot of distraction: noise, people, things to look at. You can really help your child by reducing the distractions:

Visual Distractions

If there is less to see, it may be less distracting & tiring for them.  Look at the examples below:

It’s a lot easier to concentrate on the sum, isn’t it?

You can see the difference it can make if you take away “visual clutter” from the background. You can do this by clearing things away or putting a cloth or a blanket over them.

Fidgeting, fixating on sounds that are not important or a reluctance to engage with a task may be signs that a task is too visually complex. If your child finds it hard to look at a book of sums or a page on a screen you can help by covering up the bits they don’t need just yet with a piece of card or paper. It can really help them concentrate and will help them to see better.

You can also help if you:

·   plan time for breaks that have a low visual demand (listening to music, quiet time)

·   slow the pace. Only do 7 questions instead of 10

·   only present 1 item or question at a time

·   if it is a digital copy of work, increase the font size, use double line spacing and increase spaces between words