6 starting points for supporting your child with CVI

Are you new to CVI? Did your child just get a diagnosis? Are you waiting for educational assessments to learn about how your child’s CVI manifests and what specific accommodations will support access? Are you wondering what you can try right now to explore what might help your child? 

We’ve got you.

But first, take a step back and observe your child.

Observation is at the heart of understanding and supporting a child with CVI. As a parent, you’re constantly noticing patterns in their behavior, reactions to different environments, and changes in visual engagement or physical responses. These observations guide day-to-day interactions and critical decisions for care, therapies, and interventions. Follow your child’s lead. How are they looking? Are they using touch to learn and explore, how? How are they using sound to know what’s going on around them? 

Each individual with CVI interacts with the world in their own unique way. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to CVI, but caregivers and educators can explore general strategies as they get to know the individual’s specific needs. This is especially important early on—such as after a new CVI diagnosis—when the IFSP or IEP team is still gathering information through assessments.

Here are examples of general environmental and task accommodations to boost access at home or school. Not all of these accommodations will be appropriate for your child. Only a thorough vision assessment process (FVA, CVI, LMA, O&M) can determine their specific and ideal accommodations.

For more in-depth examples of accommodations and supports related to the many aspects of CVI, go to our guide on the CVI visual behaviors. 

Multi-sensory and routine-based learning

Everyday routines are great learning opportunities to build concepts and develop skills.

Some examples:

• Explore objects, spaces, and materials uses all the senses (touch, vision, auditory, movement, taste).
• Tie learning opportunities to meaningful and motivating activities, and favorite items.
• Integrate sensory experiences to build meaningful connections by linking sounds or tactile input with visuals.
• Keep language consistent and tied to meaningful, labeled items to promote autonomy; “Let’s put on your shoe.”
• Encourage the use of other sensory channels for learning (tactile, auditory, kinesthetic) so your child can have full access to learning at all times.
• Use real objects, story boxes, and hands-on activities.
• Use repetition to predict and build routines for learning.
• Start with one routine, such as bath time, and allow your child to become an active participant by hearing the water and touching the same brightly colored sponge.

Learn about mutlisensory learning and compensatory skills.

Simplify by reducing visual clutter

Examples for the environment: 

• Remove clutter and decorations.
• Maintain a blank two-wall corner of the room.
• Organize and color-code items.
• Keep items in the same location.
• Use solid color sheets, dividers, movable walls to hide clutter and messy areas.
• Keep floor surfaces clear.

Examples for activities:

• Present and use one item at a time, against a plain background.
• Use plain black or dark paper to block out clutter.
• Use a slant board or black trifold to block out distractions.
• Add spacing between items.

Learn about the impact of clutter, ideas for observation, current research, and more examples of accommodations.

Position for comfort and visual field access

It’s essential to provide supportive positioning and present materials in an accessible visual field.

Some examples

• Choose seating toward the front, away from noise, motion, and high-traffic areas.
• Seat to accommodate your child’s preferred visual field.

• Use supportive seating, such as an adaptive chair or a supportive pillow.
• Use a slant board or box to bring learning materials into accessible visual fields.
• Allow for positioning that works best for your child’s access; allow for movement of head and body as needed.

Learn about the visual field access, ideas for observation, current research, and more examples of accommodations.

Reduce noise, movement, and other distractions

Some examples:

• Keep the room quiet.
• Turn off TV or other sound sources during demanding tasks (mealtime, school work).
• Quiet and clutter-free learning spaces in school when learning new content or with demanding tasks.
• After providing a prompt or cue for your child to begin a task, stay quiet while they are working on exploring, looking, touching, and/or listening.
• Provide a quiet space and/or preferred reset activity after being in an overwhelming environment.
• Proactively build in visual and sensory breaks throughout the day to help reduce visual fatigue.

Learn about sensory integration and its impact on vision, ideas for observation, current research, and more examples of accommodations.

Support social engagement

Some examples:

• Identify yourself and provide verbal descriptions of people around your child and when they enter and leave the space.
• Preview activities, experiences, and new environments through verbal descriptions, real objects, videos, or adapted images.
• Describe each part of a task your are doing with your child.
• Pause after speaking, allowing your child to auditorily process what you said. 
• Describe what’s happening at a distance and the task you are doing (e.g. “Let’s get the cereal out of the cabinet and pour it in a bowl. The sound is the cereal going into the bowl…”).

Learn about access to people and incidental learning, ideas for observation, current research, and more examples of accommodations.

Remember: These ideas are only meant to be a starting point for ways to support access for your child. Comprehensive assessment is a critical step to know the effective adaptations, accommodations, and instructional strategies for your child. 

Need to talk with someone about these ideas? Sign up for our free 1:1 parent calls!

Go deeper:

• What makes a comprehensive CVI assessment and why does it matter?
• How to DIY for CVI accessibility: Room-by-room projects
• A guide to common CVI IEP accommodations
• These 9 easy classroom adaptations can help kids with CVI 
• Adapting worksheets for CVI
• A multisensory sensory approach for students with CVI