Article
Designing meaningful EI routines for your child with CVI
Ideas and guidance to help leverage everyday routines that foster meaningful development for your child with CVI
Written by: Kara Baskin
Creating a routine for your baby makes life more predictable for everyone. For a baby or toddler with CVI, it also means that you have consistent, deliberate ways to embed learning opportunities into ordinary moments, even when EI providers aren’t there.
We know that babies learn more easily when interventions are frequently repeated, because they reinforce concepts. Daily routines can help babies with CVI:
- Associate words with corresponding activities (for instance, “breakfast” with “spoon”)
- Integrate their use of vision with activities they already expect, such as bathtime
- Experience other sensory stimuli consistently
Plus, they can help you build caregiver confidence.
How to design a daily routine
First: Don’t overwhelm yourself! Not every activity needs to have an educational purpose. Instead, it’s helpful to pick a few touchstone activities—such as mealtime, bathtime, or storytime—as learning opportunities and stick with them. Consider:
- Which activities happen daily?
- Which ones naturally foster collaboration, conversation, and sensory exploration?
- Which keywords or cues can you use every time to describe the activity?
- Which objects can you use regularly, to develop familiarity?
- Which cues (sound, touch, movements) can you use to signal the beginning and end of the activity?
- What is the developmental goal?
Each of these activities should build skills across social-emotional, communication, cognition, fine motor, and gross motor domains. For more inspiration, check out the activities over at CVI Journey. To learn more about the importance of tactile skills and CVI, watch our webinar on routine-based tactual strategies .
After you’ve narrowed down some activities, layer on a new level of consistency. Identify:
- Who does the activity
- Where you’ll do it
- What words you’ll use to start and end it
- Which objects you’ll use for it
- How you’ll incorporate sensory skills: For example, showing your baby a diaper before changing time or a wet cloth before a bath, letting them touch it and experience it with other senses.
- How you will break down each task needed to complete the activity?
Download excerpts from Babies with CVI on Learning Through Daily Routines and Task Analysis
Examples of task analysis
Used with permission of Anne McComiskey; excerpted from Babies With CVI
Task analysis involves breaking down parts of a complex task into smaller, sequential steps, and then teaching each step one at a time. In order to determine how to divide a task into its component parts, teachers and parents should perform the task themselves and take note of the steps involved. They can then teach the steps to the child individually. Once a step is mastered, another is added, the child can perform all of the steps needed to complete the entire task.
A sample task for an infant can be to replace their pacifier. The task can be broken down as follows:
- Locate the pacifier by touch. (It can be helpful to attach the pacifier to the baby’s shirt with a pacifier or clip holder.)
- Grasp the pacifier.
- Bring the pacifier to the mouth.
- Move the pacifier to fit between the lips correctly.
A sample task for toddlers might be hand-washing. The task can be broken down as follows:
- Find the sink.
- Find the faucet.
- Turn on the nozzle.
- Wet hands.
- Find the soap.
- Rotate the soap in hands.
- Return the soap to its holder.
- Rinse the hands.
- Turn off the nozzle.
- Find a towel.
- Dry the hands.
- Return the towel.
One tip: Keep these learning environments consistent. It helps to have what’s known as a “controlled environment,” with a limited number of carefully chosen sensory stimuli. This helps to reduce overwhelm, foster consistency, and improve safety. Most of all, it enhances visual attention and reduces distraction!
That said: It’s wonderful to outfit these areas with carefully chosen objects that spark curiosity and experimentation within easy reach. Here are some examples:
- Bedtime: Tactile blankets with lots of textures
- Bathtime: Bath toys, placed in the same spot each time
- Mealtime: White or black mats on the high chair (for visual contrast), with an object board of utensils or foods
- Playtime: Toys that can be worn, like wrist rattles
These are just a few examples. Need more inspiration? Check out our handy guide to accessible toys.
Go with your instincts
Most of all, remember: Instincts that come to you naturally as a parent will help your baby learn. Here’s how:
- Tell stories about what you’re doing, and name objects in the process: “Now we’re putting on our shoes to go outside.”
- Name sensations, and connect them with objects: “That washcloth feels cold, doesn’t it?”
These kinds of learning opportunities don’t need to be formal or stressful—caregiver burnout is real! During these ordinary activities, you’re already embedding natural learning opportunities into your baby’s daily life.
Create a home action plan in collaboration with your EI providers
Most adults operate better with a schedule. Kids with CVI do, too! Make sure your consistent household routines carry over into EI. Post your EI itinerary—what we call a Home Action Plan—somewhere everyone can see it, like the fridge. Your EI providers should help you collaborate on a Home Action Plan.
Here’s how it looks:
- Name of provider
- Each provider’s schedule (Tuesdays at 3, daily at 10)
- Goals for their visit (better head strength, more ability to hold objects)
- Strategy to achieve those goals
- Suggestions to simplify the process (name of a favorite toy or a favorite song, current favorite food)
Here’s a helpful readiness primer for both you and your EI team as you begin to plan interventions.
Again, we love:
- The Home Action Plan suggestions offered in Babies With CVI: Nurturing Visual Abilities and Development in Early Childhood by Anne McComiskey
- The guidance from the CVI Companion Guide by Amanda Lueck, Deborah Chen, and Elizabeth Hartmann to support documenting a child’s current level of functioning with their CVI diagnosis and developing a plan to work on skills needed to function in everyday activities.
Want even more ideas? Check out our tutorial on supporting family-centered practices, including naturally embedding opportunities, to improve easy adaptations of your home environment and activities within your family’s daily life.
Find more resources and helpful information on the CVI Now Early Intervention Series home page.
