The assessment of children with cortical visual impairment (CVI)-or with any other condition-needs to begin with the child’s family.
Roman-Lantzy, 2010
Integral to The CVI Range Assessment is the parent survey that asks a student’s parent or caregiver to identify a student’s visual characteristics from infancy to present. In addition to providing information for the assessment, parents or caregivers may also request and require further information about CVI and their child’s interventions as they develop.
When completing the parent survey for The CVI Range Assessment, the following guidelines serve to focus and lead an educational team. They are:
Edelman et. al., 2006
The parent interview is a critical first step in gathering assessment data on the child’s use of vision. It is important to never underestimate the value of a parent’s information regarding their child. Christine Roman-Lantzy (p. 31-39) discusses the importance and the process of conducting a parent interview to inform the assessment and intervention stages addressing the implications of CVI. In the following excerpts from an interview she conducted with a Bridge Bridge School student’s mom, it is clear how informed and knowledgeable the mom is about her child and, in particular, about his vision.
The interview proceeded with Christine Roman-Lantzy gathering the information she would need to continue the assessment process. The parent reported that, through trial and error, they discovered what colors Adam preferred, where an object needed to be placed in order to gain his visual attention and what input they needed to provide to give him the language associated with what he was viewing. The responses on the parent interview were confirmed during the direct assessment and during observations of his behavior in the classroom.