[blindkid] Functional Vision Assessment in preschooler -- what should be included -- can anyone PLEASE help?

holly miller hollym12 at gmail.com
Sat Jan 8 14:40:04 UTC 2011


Not to step on Amy's toes but she & I are in the same state.  Most schools
use itinerant TVI's from the state CBVI.  The situation with services,
especially for children with low vision, is appalling.
We are deep in a battle to get our 10 yr old with Albinism braille which
both the school and NJCBVI strongly oppose.  We've worked all the usual IEP
dispute steps with our attorney and will be filing for Due Process shortly
because it has been made clear we will get no satisfaction on the district
or CBVI level.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say :smile is that Amy could really use input
from independent sources.  I'm not familiar with pre-school protocol
unfortunately (Hank was adopted at 6 yrs old) so I'm not much help with the
specifics here.

Holly


On Sat, Jan 8, 2011 at 9:27 AM, janis parker <goatmom2003 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Amy- Why not call TVI and ask the questions yourself?  Most TVI are allowed
> home
> visits, so you can see and understand how the assessments were done and how
> they
> relate to your child.  Even if a home visit is not possible, phone
> conferences
> can be very helpful, also.  Just ask!
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: "amydarlington at comcast.net" <amydarlington at comcast.net>
> To: blindkid at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Sat, January 8, 2011 8:13:44 AM
> Subject: [blindkid] Functional Vision Assessment in preschooler -- what
> should
> be included -- can anyone PLEASE help?
>
>
>
>
> Hi,
>
>
>
>
>
> Can anyone share what instruments are typically used in a functional vision
> assessment at the preschool level for a child with low vision, and what
> information is typically included in the report?
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Our 3 year old (oculocutanous albinism and a left field delay/deficit,
> nystagmus, photophobia) just started preschool this fall, and in November
> had a
> functional vision assessment done by the TVI. We just received the written
> report. It is very general and appears to be mostly a form letter with a
> few
> paragraphs of individualized information. While it lists the LEA symbols
> and
> Pavi book it doesn't state how the instruments were used to assess her
> functional vision or what the specific results were. Our daughter's report
> doesn't say how our daughter was assessed or what the specific results
> were. For
> example, "my assessment yielded similar results" was used a couple of times
> following a sentence about what the opthalmologist or low vision doctor
> said in
> a previous report. The teacher was not aware when the TVI came in to do the
> assessment unfortunately (she may have been out that day), so we just don't
> have
> much info about what was done.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I guess my questions are:
>
>    • Is it unreasonable to have the functional vision assessment include
> how
> the instruments were used and the specific results? (Such as she was able
> to
> recognize LEA symbols at 2 feet but not at 5 feet, etc.)
>
>
>
>> Are there any best practices out there for what should be included in a FVA
> at
> this level, for a low vision preschooler? Shouldn't it include some kind of
> objective testing for near, far, and mid-range vision, field of vision, and
> also
> cite observations about her in different lighting conditions ? And maybe do
> specific tests to address her field deficit in classroom?
>
>
>
>> Shouldn't the FVA state how the child is functioning *in her specific
> classroom
> setting* -- I thought we were going to have more information and specific
> observations from the TVI about what she sees our child doing/not doing.
>
>
>> How often should these be done? Our daughter had a FVA 3-4 months prior
> from
> earlier TVI, so I really thought having a new FVA was to address
> specifically
> her academic needs in a preschool environment.
>
>
>
>> We are familiar with the LEA symbols but can anyone share what the Pavi
> book is?
> I did a quick search online and all I came up with was the Parents and
> Visually
> Impaired Infants materials written by D. Chen in 1989. The short
> description
> given seems to describe materials for parents as home based intervention on
> infants and toddlers.
>
>
>> Are there any best practices out there for what should be included in a
> functional vision assessment at this level, for a low vision preschooler?
>
>
>
>
>
> On the plus side the suggested modifications at the end are helpful (most
> are
> already in our IEP, although there is a good recommendation added for a
> tray
> table). I just don't think the report is enough for a FVA, and we were
> hoping to
> have this info to use in revising our daughter's IEP.
>
>
>
>
>
> Thank you so much to anyone who is able to either share what was done in
> their
> FVA or (fingers crossed) there might be TVIs out there who can enlighten us
> on
> what to expect from a FVA.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Amy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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