[blindkid] O & M evaluation, FVA

Marie Smith empwrn at bellsouth.net
Fri Apr 3 03:49:06 UTC 2009


Opinions needed please
..

 

Jack is 3 ¾ years old. He will be 4 at the end of May.

 

Jack’s right eye vision is 20/320 and he has light perception in the left
eye. 

 

We have noticed that when Jack is outside he looks down at his feet except
when he has a specific visual target to follow or go to.

 

Jack has difficulty walking in a straight line outside.

 

Jack appears sometimes to have a balance problem when walking outside
because of the way he kind of holds his hands and arms up (not casually down
at his side).

 

Indoors, he navigates familiar places very well except for objects that are
not regularly in his path.

 

Indoors, he navigates unfamiliar places fairly well except he will bump into
objects a few times until he has the layout memorized.

 

Jack has fine motor issues which may make holding a cane difficult. His
fingers don’t bend. His hands are small.

 

Jack navigates his current preschool environment just fine except that he
needs physical assistance descending stairs and curbs. He needs verbal cues
for going up curbs and surface changes. 

 

Jack currently attends a preschool that is located inside a local K-3
elementary school.

 

Next year, he will not have that option. We will either be sending him to
private daycare/preschool or perhaps keeping him at home. Our LEA will
provide therapy consult services only next year. 

 

Our school year ends around May 20.

 

Jack will return to public school for kindergarten the school year that
begins after he turns 5 (year after next).

 

Should we ask for an orientation and mobility evaluation now? If no, when
should we ask for this?

 

Also, Jack’s functional visual assessment was completed prior to our
learning the true extent of Jack’s visual impairment. The TVI wrote, “Jack
will be a visual learner like his peers.” Since then, I asked for another
FVA but was told that they are done only every three years or unless there
is a significant change. At the time, we told them that our ophthalmologist
suspected that Jack was legally blind but was sending us to another doctor.
Instead of doing a FVA, the TVI provided the teacher with some low vision
tips. Should we ask for another FVA?

 

 

All opinions and experiences welcomed. Thank you all.

 

Marie (mother of Jack, 3 yrs old with Apert Syndrome)
http://www.allaccesspasstojack.blogspot.com
Learn more about Apert Syndrome
http://www.thecraniofacialcenter.org/apert.html
Get information and support at Teeter's page
http://www.apert.org

 




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