It all started with a phone call from a parent.
Amber Finnesand is the parent of a charming 3 year old named Oliver who happens to have CVI. As a strong parent advocate, Amber expanded her knowledge of CVI by completing Perkins School for the Blind course called “CVI Proficiency”. Amber learned about the 10 characteristics of CVI, how they impact the child’s ability to interpret what they see, and helpful strategies to help in a sense “rewire” the child’s brain so that they can better interpret what they see. She also learned about the CVI endorsement process and was looking for a CVI endorsed person who could conduct a CVI assessment with her son Oliver and provide recommendations for appropriate interventions.
This prompted Amber to call Rose Moehring from the Center for Disabilities Deaf-Blind Program. Although Rose has had training in the area of CVI, she was not aware of the CVI endorsement process. Rose researched the process on the Perkins website and discovered that no one in the Midwest was currently endorsed. Perkins offers several courses including the
CVI Proficiency Course
, the
CVI Range Assessment Course
, and the
CVI Complexity Course
. Participants who take courses from Perkins can earn university credit and/or micro credentials.
Dr. Christine Roman-Lantzy is a leader in the field of CVI. She has lectured extensively regarding the CVI educational materials she has developed. Dr. Roman-Lantzy is the author of Cortical Visual Impairment: An Approach to Assessment and Intervention. This text is considered by many to be the CVI Range operating manual. Dr. Roman-Lantzy also worked in partnership with Perkins to create the Perkins-Roman CVI Range Endorsement.
Rose decided to take the Proficiency Course to learn what is new in the area of CVI. This course was a great refresher course. It provided new information regarding the CVI assessment tools and a broader view on the age range for when CVI intervention strategies are most effective. In the past, the age range of birth to three was described as being a window of opportunity and although this continues to be a true statement, CVI strategies have been found to be effective with older children as well.
As president of the Dakota’s Chapter of the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of Persons with Vision Impairment (AER), Rose shared what she learned with Teachers who belong to this organization from both South and North Dakota. A few members of this organization indicated they were interested in learning more and in becoming CVI endorsed and as a result a CVI Community of Practice (CoP) was established. The group met monthly to discuss ways to improve upon assessment skills and practice CVI assessments. A few members of this group took additional coursework from Perkins and Salus University. As a result of these efforts, three members are now or soon to be CVI endorsed! This includes Rose and Amy from SD and Mary who is a Teacher of the Visually Impaired from ND.
We are looking to grow our network of CVI trained and CVI endorsed in SD. If interested in being part of this effort, consider joining us in upcoming training opportunities.
