Hello fellow families of lovable children who happen to have cortical visual impairment,
In a previous post, I mentioned that, across the United States, more parents are educating themselves about their child’s diagnosis of CVI. They are taking their research into their IFSP and IEP meetings. They are asking their school districts how a child with CVI will be accommodated in the classroom.
Parents receive a wide spectrum of responses to their questions.
(And, I hammered this home with a tortured analogy from West Side Story. Sometimes I have to make sense of things through musical theater. Everyone has their thing. Don’t judge.
Image: Tony and Maria from West Side Story singing Somewhere (technically she’s lip-synching)
There’s a place for us….children with CVI to be educated in the manner in which they can learn because they can learn…..SOMEWHERE a place for ….children with CVI. Aren’t you glad I didn’t dredge that up again?)
As a direct result of the advocacy of parents in their individual IEP meetings, some school districts in America are recognizing CVI as a common diagnosis (#1 pediatric visual impairment – Can’t miss an opportunity to throw that in.) and as an obstacle to a child’s access (our favorite word) to a Free and Appropriate Public Education. In fighting for their own children, these parents are improving education for all of our children. It does not happen overnight, but there has been significant progress since I began looking for like-minded parents a decade ago.
It’s important for families to know that there are school and district administrators who are open to listening and to learning.
(There is a troubling issue with special education administrators. Did you know that special education administrators do not have to have a background in special education to hold their positions? Special education is a term which covers a wide variety of diagnoses and educational approaches. One would think that an administrator in this field would need more expertise to represent the students in their district, definitely not less. When I learned this, I wondered if this isn’t one of the reasons so many families feel like they are hitting a brick wall when they ask for teachers and staff to be trained in educating children with CVI. Something to consider.)
Kudos to the administrators who acknowledge the challenge of educating children with CVI and who take action to train their staff. This is new territory. They are leading by example.
Speaking of examples, Fairfax County Public Schools, the largest public school system in Virginia, has made a significant commitment to training teachers about cortical visual impairment through the Perkins-Roman CVI Range Endorsement.
Dr. Irene Meier is the Director of the Office of Special Education Instruction for FCPS. Two years ago, when parents met with Dr. Meier to give her information about cortical visual impairment and its impact on student learning, she was curious to learn more. She recognized the need for specialized training to work more effectively with children with CVI. She and Dr. David Lojkovic, Educational Specialist for Adapted Curriculum, worked with Perkins to provide FCPS teachers training through the Endorsement program.
When recently asked about the training, Dr. Meier responded:
“Our collaboration with Perkins and the feedback from the teachers was a very positive experience. We plan to continue to offer access to these courses next school year.
Over the course of the past two years, FCPS has been fortunate to participate in training, provided by the Perkins School for the Blind, that has advanced the skills of our staff who are working with students with cortical visual impairment (CVI). 21 FCPS teachers have taken either graduate level or advanced level courses, with several in that cohort pursuing the specialized endorsement in cortical visual impairment.
The feedback from teachers has been extremely positive.
Participant quotes: “I like taking Perkins’ classes because they’re structured, but flexible.”
“The assignments are challenging, but not too challenging.”
“The work we do in the classes can be directly applied to practice.”
Survey results show that teachers appreciate the opportunity to learn more about assessment with the CVI range and have used skills learned from the coursework with students that they serve. Furthermore, teachers indicated via survey that they were engaged in the coursework and felt encouraged to try strategies learned.
85% of participants in the coursework indicated that they learned new information as a result of taking the course.”
Image: A pith helmet
For her willingness to address the challenges of educating children with cortical visual impairment, CVI Momifesto would like to offer Dr. Irene Meier our first honorary Pith Helmet of Gratitude for helping parents of children with CVI forge a new path, blaze a new trail, if you will, in special education.
So, fellow parents –
if your child has been identified with cortical visual impairment and you are getting a lot of pushback from your school district when you ask for accommodations, modifications, and educators trained in CVI,
if hours of IEP meetings have worn you down so that you start to doubt yourself,
if you start to wonder if your request for your child to have access to her education is even possible,
remember that there are school districts, there are administrators, there are teachers who get it. They are working with parents. They are learning how to work with our children.
A question you may ask your school district might be, if Fairfax County can do it, why can’t we?
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P.S. If you know of a school or a district that has risen to the challenge of working with children with CVI, let us know at Info@cvimomifesto.com so we can spread the word!
Image: A little boy sitting on a black floor and surrounded by black walls. He wears glasses. He is leaning forward looking at a light source with many strands of shiny red beads hanging over it.
CVI Momifesto 