VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN

2023-01-17T03:51:00.010-08:00

A New Year Post II - The Desperate Tale of a Visually Impaired Girl (Part 2)

©MJ Sparrow

17. After just the second day

The teacher took their work away

And Marcus undertook to mark

The page of writing by Miss Sparks

18. With many errors in her text

Very little was correct

“The little lassie must be struggling”,

In his head these thoughts were bubbling

19. ”It looks like I must simplify

And every lesson modify”.

However Marcus did not know

That Silv’ was not at all below

The other children in her class

20. Just that she could not detect

The letters she could not inspect

And thus the meaning was not clear

Of marks that Marcus scribbled there

21. Silvia in her council flat

Spent evenings reading this and that

Especially stories and poetry

She dreamt of chocolate and factories,

22. Matilda and the BFG

The Gruffalo, The Giving Tree

Whatever she could get her hands on

AA Milne, Enid Blyton,

Beatrix Potter, Julia Donaldson

Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Rosen

David Walliams, JK Rowling.

23. Silvia’s reading was amazing

And her language was astounding

But reading books was quite a strain

It pricked her eyes with a sharp pain

24. So mum had found a charity

That modified them properly

The books were large and hard to fold

With writing that was big and bold

25. And thick dark words on light background

It was a snap to get around

She had the books made up for her

And customised to cut the blur

26. Silvia Sparks was very young

When gradually it dawned on mum

That Silv was bumping into things

Like table tops and rubbish bins

27. And often she would lose her place

Whilst stuffing beans into her face

And what is more she hit the door

And banged her nose in corridors

28. And sadly sometimes didn’t know

Her mummy’s face from Uncle Jo’s

She saw a doctor for her eyes

The news that came was no surprise:

29. ”Your Silvia has an eye disease

It’s called an optic dystrophy;

Which really means if I must tell

That Silvia didn’t see so well.”

(to be continued)

2023-01-06T03:40:00.007-08:00

Deafblindness or Dual Sensory Impairment and the Social Worker

source:- British Association of Social Workers

When I came across this website, I felt I had to share it as it's a neglected area of expertise and one we should all be more aware of. This was written specifically for social workers, but may be of interest to many others.

‘Deafblind my arse’. Such was the disbelieving response of a fellow train passenger to 16-year-old Saule as she tried to explain that her sister, Karolina, was deafblind, and that was why she had temporarily lifted her mask: to enable Karolina to lip-read.

It was the final insult at the end of an outburst of verbal abuse, captured on video and posted online by The Guardian at the end of July. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, wearing face coverings on public transport became compulsory last June, but the regulations make it clear that there is an exemption for someone who is travelling with or assisting another person who relies on lip-reading.

The distressing experience of Saule and Karolina, and that of other disabled people, has led charitable organisations to call on the government to actively promote public awareness about those exempt from the face covering regulations. Yet, Karolina and Saule’s experience highlights it is not only the regulations that are often unknown or misunderstood but also deafblindness itself.

As a severe and complex condition, with different causes, deafblindness affects people in different ways, though all share impairment in, or total loss of, both vision and hearing. Sometimes termed dual sensory loss, it can be a congenital or acquired condition.

Though there are significant differences between these, it is more complex than a simple binary distinction might suggest. Synergy is a unifying feature: the combination of sensory impairment results in a unique experience, more than the existence of hearing impairment/deafness and visual impairment. Deafblindness prevents a person from using one sense to compensate for impairment in the other. Therefore, even a relatively minor impairment in one of the distance senses has a significant impact on function when it exists in combination with another.

This complexity contributes to the misunderstanding of deafblindness. Ignorance, comparatively low prevalence rates, and the invisibility of the condition are also known contributory factors. It is not only the condition itself that is misunderstood, but also the extent of an individual's deafblind impairment, its nature and impact, the behaviour of deafblind people, and their linguistic and communicative methods and needs.

In seeking to address such misunderstanding, and in recognition of the birth month of Helen Keller – author, activist and the first deafblind person known to be educated to degree level – June is designated Deafblindness Awareness month. But unlike other awareness days, weeks and months, this one comes and goes with little or no comment from professional social work organisations.

This is curious, when one considers the known psychosocial impact of deafblindness; effects often more significant than audiological and ophthalmic matters, and known to adversely affect quality of life.

Deafblindness impacts a person’s communication, mobility and access to information. Such functional difficulties, rather than clinical assessment of hearing and vision, are central to the definition of the condition adopted by the Department of Health and Social Care.

It can challenge a person’s independence, including their ability to complete daily activities, and can affect family, parental and personal relationships, one’s sense of identity and social participation. Deafblind people can encounter high levels of social isolation and experience ongoing loss. It is unsurprising therefore, that research suggests they are at increased risk of emotional, psychological and mental health problems.

Touch is deafblind people’s most important sense. It enables communication and the expression of friendship, emotion and connection. Yet it is also a potential source of vulnerability. The nature of physical contact can be misinterpreted by the deafblind person or their interlocutor. Deafblind children become accustomed to much higher levels of touch compared to their hearing-sighted peers. How do they know when that touch is inappropriate or abusive?

Deafblind people may also be vulnerable to physical harms or injury, associated with accidents and falls, being exploited or a victim of crime. Nevertheless, the identification of deafblind people as a vulnerable group has also resulted in persistent misunderstanding, a perception of incapability and the neglect of deafblind people’s agency, creativity and ability, resulting in overprotection and control.

Surely such matters are of concern to social work? Relationships, wellbeing, communication, social participation, and vulnerability: these are mainstream concepts in social work theory and practice.

Since the late 1980s, public services have increasingly recognised the unmet needs of deafblind people. It was the untimely death of the deafblind woman Beverley Lewis, that prompted Gloucestershire social services to establish an ‘Adults at Risk Unit’ and develop adult protection policy and procedures. The particular challenges Covid-19 has posed to deafblind people is also highlighted in this article.

A call to the social work profession

The Care Act 2014 and associated provisions place explicit obligations towards deafblind people upon English local authorities. Deafblindness is mentioned more than 20 times in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance.

Since these provisions came into force, there has been substantial progress in meeting deafblind people’s needs, and local authorities are supporting increasing numbers of staff to gain qualifications and become deafblind assessors.

The latter is welcome, as the need for increased training on deafblindness among social care professionals has been recognised for some time. However, there is still much more to do. A survey by charity Sense of deafblind people’s experiences, highlights ongoing barriers including limited awareness among social workers of the legal duties owed to deafblind people; difficulties gaining access to specialist assessment and support; completion of assessments by unsuitably or non-qualified staff and the non-involvement of specialists in care and support planning, sign off and reviews.

The Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 similarly places duties upon local authorities. Explicit reference to local authorities’ responsibility to provide appropriate care and support for deafblind people is evident in the accompanying Code of Practice.

The duties are similar to those in England, but differences are evident. In Wales, the requirement for local authorities to register those who “have sight and hearing impairments, which in combination, have a significant effect on their day to day lives” is in the primary legislation.

Deafblindness is a minority impairment. Nevertheless, while determining the prevalence of the condition is complex, researchers agree it increases with age. The number of deafblind people is therefore predicted to grow as the population ages.

This demographic trend, and the legal provisions as described, suggest that social workers should develop their knowledge of deafblindness and build their capacity in this field. Our call on the profession to do so is also informed by our belief that social work has much to contribute to the wellbeing of deafblind people.

In view of the psychosocial difficulties associated with the impairment, social work’s effectiveness in combining practical and emotional support suggests it’s ideally placed to support this population. Additionally, the complexity of the condition means deafblind people often require a multi-disciplinary response: social work skills of co-ordination and local community-based knowledge may ensure its helpfulness. Finally, as a strengths and rights based profession, social work has the potential to address the misunderstanding of deafblindness and challenge the perception of deafblind people as incapable.

This seems anything but niche to us.

2023-01-05T02:37:00.010-08:00

A New Year Post - The Desperate Tale of a Visually Impaired Girl (Part 1)

©MJ Sparrow

1. Silvia Sparks went to St Cedds

She was one of thirty kids
She wore a pair of big round specs
That looked just like the old LORGNETTES

2. With a handle fixed upon one side

And grown-ups held them to their eyes

Some others in the school had glasses

Like Molly Minn in Cedar class

3. Molly was severe myopic

And when on the class’s nature topic

She could only see her nose
She loved to hold and smell a rose

4. Because she was an avid learner

To see some more and even further

She kept a gadget in her pocket

A small contraption made of plastic

5. One day when she was in gymnastics

Mervin Briggs pinched her device

Ignoring everyone’s advice
He crushed it in a metal vice

6. Of course he had to pay the price

But Molly burst in floods of tears

That must have lasted seven years.

7. Silvia had GIGANTIC specs

With a concave lens made from perspex

To be precise they were trivex

Which she prefers to polycarbonate

8. Cos’ they’re light and scratch resistant

Concave means they’re curving inward

They stop her learning being hindered,

And make the board a little clearer

9. Which always seems to help to cheer her

They definitely helped a little
But not when she sat in the middle

And certainly, never at the back

Where all she saw was fuzzy black

10. In Silvia’s class of five-year-olds

Some were mildly uncontrolled
The teacher called them ‘full of beans’

But mum said they should eat their greens.

11. The noisiest was Bobby Boyd

Mainly when they were outside

At playtime all he did was eat

Haribos his favourite sweet

12. Plus chocolate, fudge and jelly beans

He often crashed in the canteen
To feast upon his custard creams

Bobby was extremely bubbly

13. Always active, sometimes funny

Mummy said it was the sugar

She called it his candy trigger

But Bobby never bothered Silv’

14. Just the teacher Marcus Mills

Mr Mills was Jack the lad

Young and cheeky, not so bad

He was new to this profession

15. He’d only taught the kids one session

So when it came to Silvia
He didn’t really understand her
He didn’t know she couldn’t see

16. What he wrote efficiently

When he scribbled on the board

Though his words were always heard

To her the text was always blurred.

(to be continued ...)

2022-12-06T20:07:00.007-08:00

What Strategies do you recommend for a vision impaired child with nystagmus or ROP

For a little girl of nursery or kindergarten age (see post ROP 4/12/22) I recommend the following:

Extra practice with fine motor skills to develop her 3-D compensatory skills. Activities such as drawing, threading, stacking will help her develop her skills.
Isobel will benefit from a writing slope or upright easel in class/nursery to obviate the need to bend her neck and thus avoid potential postural problems.
Adults should enhance the degree and quality of language they use with Isobel. A child with visual impairment benefits from increased description and explanation to compensate for their lack of vision.
She would benefit from extra support when in a low light environment.
In the playground Isobel would benefit from adult supervision to ensure her safety when moving across and around obstacles.
Isobel will benefit from a multi-sensory approach to her learning. She should have enhanced access to the use and stimulation of all her senses. A range of sensory experiences will ensure she learns to compensate for reduced vision in accessing information within her environment.
Isobel will benefit from a clutter-free environment. The positioning of furniture should be kept as stable as possible and moving tables and chairs kept to a minimum. The floor should be kept free from trip hazards and obstacles.
Pictures and letters presented to Isobel should be big, bold and bright and on a well contrasted background.
Attention to be paid to contrast in her learning materials. She will benefit from off-white paper, preferably a pastel colour to reduce the glare from white paper.
Isobel will benefit from enhanced lighting in her immediate leaning environment. She will benefit from a classroom that is well lit, with average ambient lighting levels of at least 300 lux and access to a directed task lamp shining over her work area to provide levels of a minimum 500 lux when needed. She should not be in the path of direct sunlight and windows should be to her back. Blinds or curtains should be used to control the light levels.
Isobel requires extra time for tasks because her eyes are slow in changing focus due to nystagmus. She will take longer scanning a page whether it is writing or pictures.
It will benefit Isobel if an adult takes the time to talk about activities in advance with her. She needs to be prepared and able to anticipate what is coming. In cases where she may miss a visual cue an adult should prepare her in advance. When throwing a ball to her always talk it through first with her so she is not taken by surprise.
In a nursery environment Isobel will benefit from good structure, periods of quietness and calm, varied activities, a large play element in all activities, short focused activities, increased verbal description and explanation; she will benefit from extra explanation of the concepts of comparative size and distance.
Children with visual impairments may become sensitive about being different and the management of her LSA will need careful monitoring. Some awareness-raising may need to be done with her class so they understand her visual needs and to avoid teasing.
Isobel would benefit from a mobility assessment. She is unsure when in unfamiliar places and will benefit from ongoing input from a mobility trainer.
In her early days at primary school Isobel will benefit from becoming familiar with specialist equipment such as a cctv (e.g. Professional Vision Services ‘Student’) and low vision aids (monocular and dome / bar magnifier).
Isobel will benefit from her own laptop and training in touch typing from an early age.
Isobel may benefit from the use of technology such as a kindle or I-Pad for access to texts.
Isobel will benefit from ongoing input in her educational settings from a qualified teacher for visual impairment (QTVI). Her teachers will require initial and additional training and ongoing advice. Any LSA attached to Isobel will require support and regular training and advice and would be expected to cascade his or her training to other staff involved.
The building will need an audit to check its suitability for a visually impaired child. Basic adaptations such as yellow tape to the nosings of the stairs and steps will need to be in place before Isobel starts.

The Role of a learning support assistant for Isobel (kindergarten age)

A 1:1 supporting f/t or p/t adult will be helpful to ensure her safety

-in the playground during breaks and playtime

-in class to check that the floor and room is clear of trip hazards and obstacles

-when moving through varying lighting conditions or low light conditions

To sit with her during circle times and group sessions where the big book is used with the whole class. Isobel will benefit from her own copy of books and an adult to point out parts of the book the teacher is showing.
To adapt learning materials especially for her including photocopying parts of pictures and texts to provide good spacing, contrast and colour – this requires advance notice and liaison with the teacher at regular intervals. A dedicated LSA will need to have time to do this.
To sit with her and point out what the teacher is writing or drawing on the board. To give extra description and explanation of what is going on around her.
A curriculum that is tailored and adapted to meet Isobel’s needs. Isobel is curious and inquisitive; she enjoys sensory play, and likes to be active. For this reason an adult dedicated to working with Isobel should be able to prepare learning materials that will meet her visual needs. At the same time because she will require extra time to complete tasks that are visually demanding and visually tiring a support assistant would be of benefit for Isobel during much of the day. That support should be scaffolded as appropriate.

2022-12-04T21:12:00.014-08:00

RETINOPATHY OF PREMATURITY - INTRODUCING ISOBEL

Summary of condition

Isobel (pseudonym) was born premature at 23 weeks and 6 days with stage 3/4b ROP and needed emergency treatment in the hospital for detached retina. Both eyes had laser treatment but treatment to the left eye was unsuccessful. The right eye was stage 3 (plus disease) with enlarged and twisted blood vessels; surgery was successful. The left eye was partially detached and progressed to stage 4b and surgery was unsuccessful. Furthermore the laser treatment burned the periphery of the retinas leaving her with restricted visual fields. The residual scarring also left Isobel with various unspecified ‘blind spots’ across her peripheral right retina.

What is ROP?

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) affects premature babies born before 31 weeks and the smaller the baby the higher the risk of it developing. In serious cases it leads to permanent visual impairment and blindness. The retina develops and matures in-utero but in premature infants the blood vessels of the retina are not fully developed. After a premature birth the blood vessels in the infant’s retina continue developing but in some cases abnormally. New abnormal blood vessels begin to grow. Because they are fragile and immature they proceed to leak in the retina and they leave behind scar tissue. In serious cases the scars can pull on the retina and cause the retina to detach from the eye. Several factors contribute to the disease developing, one of which is an excess of oxygen. ROP is associated with other eye conditions, especially squints, cataracts, glaucoma, myopia and nystagmus. In the majority of cases ROP resolves itself but in a small number of cases (as with Isobel) it needs immediate intervention to prevent blindness.

THE FIVE STAGES OF ROP

Stage 1 - Mild: Abnormal blood vessels grow in the retina. No treatment is needed. The child gains normal vision eventually. It resolves itself.

Stage 2 - Moderate: The blood vessels are slightly more abnormal. Many children do not need treatment and have normal vision in later childhood.

Stage 3 - Severe: blood vessels grow more abnormally. What makes this particularly severe is the growth of abnormal blood vessels in the centre of the eye instead of along the surface of the retina as is normal. In some cases no treatment is needed. If the blood vessels are enlarged and twisted (called ‘plus disease’) intervention is needed.

Stage 4 - Partly detached retina: the scar pulls away and bleeding occurs, abnormal vessels pulling the retina away from the wall of the eye.

Stage 5 - Fully detached retina: final stage. The retina pulls right away from the inner lining of the eye. With no intervention blindness may result.

Treatment

Laser therapy "burns away" part of the periphery of the retina, which has no normal blood vessels. In doing this, laser treatment destroys the peripheral areas of the retina, slowing or reversing the abnormal growth of blood vessels. But the treatment also destroys some side vision. This is done to save the most important part of sight—the sharp, central vision.

Isobel’s Vision

Isobel was born around 24 weeks with stage 3/4b ROP and needed emergency treatment in the hospital for a partially detached retina in the left and a potential detachment in the right. Both eyes had laser treatment (burning of the peripheral retina) but treatment to the left eye was unsuccessful. The left eye remains microphthalmic (small) and strabismic (squint) and sees very little; the right eye is myopic with restricted visual fields. To use her right eye she turns her head to one side to see.

Visual acuity

Isobel has scarring on her retinas, the left eye being the most affected; it is microphthalmic (small, not fully developed), amblyopic (lazy) with a convergent strabismus (inward squint) and with scarring directly over the central vision. The left eye has light perception and no useful central vision. The retina of the right eye is scarred though less so and has a visual acuity of 6/48 (Snellen) or 0.90 (LogMAR). This is based on the Cardiff cards preferential looking test (she made no response to the Kay Picture test).

Isobel is functionally monocular with no useful vision in her left eye. Both eyes also have nystagmus (wobbly eyes). Nystagmus on its own can seriously reduce distance vision and is a condition that is exacerbated by fatigue, associated with focusing difficulties and causes the sufferer to take up to 25% longer over normal visual tasks. Patching has been suggested for the left strabismic eye but has not been implemented at home. Patching would in any case cause Isobel some distress, as it would render her functionally blind. She has been prescribed glasses for myopia but is not made to wear them consistently. Being monocular Isobel has neither depth perception nor three-dimensional vision.

Isobel turns her head to the right to look. She tends to trip and has some difficulty descending stairs. Isobel is light sensitive and reacts to glare and strong light. She brings objects a few inches distance from her face to examine them. She cannot identify people at all if they are more than five or six metres away.

Near vision

Isobel is able to distinguish a visual target of 2-3cm in size at a distance of one metre. This is not perfect vision for a child of 2.5 years old but it is useful vision. Her near vision is significantly better than her distance vision. It will be necessary to ensure there is good spacing between all details she is presented with. Good separation between details and visual elements on a page is essential with nystagmus as letters and images can become blurred and merge together. Despite her myopia Isobel peers close to details to look. She is able to see a visual target equivalent to point size 18 at 15 cm. In an educational setting she will benefit from print and learning materials of approximately this size or preferably larger i.e. 24 (Arial font). This is practical in a nursery (and reception) setting as many books are already this size, but as the curriculum becomes more demanding it will require more and more adaptations on the part of the staff. Isobel will have difficulty sharing equipment and materials. Isobel will always need her own copy of a book and her own computer where necessary. She will need a big book for herself during story time.

Eye contact

Isobel has difficulty making direct eye contact and turns her head to achieve her best vision as is often the case with nystagmus and monocular vision. This also has social implications: other children may wonder why Isobel does this and it may cause her to react by becoming withdrawn or to overcompensate by denying her condition. Isobel may sometimes approach others too closely and may need to be shown what is and what is not appropriate social behaviour.

Nystagmus

Nystagmus creates an unsteady and blurred image on the retina that is caused by the constant involuntary eye movements. It reduces the clarity, resolution and sharpness of her vision to the extent that she is unable to recognise details such as a familiar face beyond 5metres. This will affect her ability to access texts on the board in an educational setting. Nystagmus is moreover a variable condition and a child can perform better or worse depending on factors such as fatigue, health, mood, stress and time of day. Isobel will need at some point to understand her own eye condition so that she can explain all about nystagmus and ROP to others. She will need to become her own advocate. The best way to deal with embarrassment about her visual impairment is to talk about it.

Strategies - summary

I recommend the following modifications to the educational setting and curriculum:

Extra practice with fine motor skills.
A writing slope or upright easel.
Adults should enhance the degree and quality of language they use with Isobel.
Extra support in a low light environment.
In the playground she would benefit from adult supervision.
A multi-sensory approach to learning.
Isobel will benefit from a clutter-free environment.
Pictures and letters presented to Isobel should be big, bold and bright.
Attention to be paid to contrast in her learning materials.
She will benefit from enhanced lighting.
Extra time for tasks because her eyes are slow in changing focus.
Pre-teaching - adult to talk about activities in advance with her.
Good structure, periods of quietness and calm, varied activities, a large play element.
Awareness-raising with her class so they understand her visual needs and to avoid teasing.
A mobility assessment.
Specialist equipment such as a cctv (e.g. Professional Vision Services ‘Student’) and low vision aids (monocular and dome / bar magnifier).
Laptop and training in touch typing at some point / from an early age.
Technology such as a kindle or I-Pad for access to texts.
Ongoing input in her educational settings from a qualified teacher for visual impairment (QTVI). Her teachers will require initial and additional training.
The building will need an audit.

The Role of a learning support assistant for Isobel

- To ensure her safety.
- To sit with her during circle times and group sessions where the big book is used.
- To adapt learning materials
- To sit with her and point out what the teacher is writing
- A curriculum that is tailored and adapted to meet her needs.

NB For an expanded version of these strategies see post 6/12/22

2022-12-02T05:00:00.003-08:00

Simultanagnosia - The brain is confused by a busy visual scene

If you have come across children, whose eyes are tested ‘normal’, yet still have problems making sense of what they see, you might be dealing with a CVI called ‘simultanagnosia’. This is not common but can be profoundly disabling. It prevents a person seeing and comprehending many things at once, yet they can see single objects if presented on their own against a contrasting background. The world can become a chaotic, confusing place, and the child may be over-stimulated and overwhelmed. Those with severe simultanagnosia have a limited window of visual attention and cannot see more than one object at a time. It’s a little like tunnel vision. Their world is patchy and disjointed; it’s sometimes called the ‘Swiss cheese effect’. So they pick out an object, but they miss the "big picture."

I have come across this a few times. A little boy with microcephaly, (a condition where the brain is under-developed), demonstrated it dramatically one day. He was sitting on the floor with three toys in front of him. Initially he looked blank, not knowing what to pick up. One toy was removed and he still looked blank. Then another was removed, leaving one and immediately he appeared to recognise the last toy and picked it up. I think this shows that to this boy the world was cluttered and confusing and he needed it greatly simplifying. Once the number of objects in the scene in front of him were reduced he was able to make sense of it; he recognised a favourite toy. The young man later went to a special school for children with severe learning difficulties, where in my view there was a lot of visual clutter, and noise. I suspect that this did not help his learning. A common issue in special schools (see article on Minimalism).

2022-11-28T04:39:00.008-08:00

How do I know if my Child or a Pupil in my class is VIsion Impaired?

Some behaviours when occurring together

can flag up a problem that is to do with vision.

Close viewing - peering close to read
Head turning - turning at an awkward angle to look
Habitual clumsiness
Consistent off-task behaviour - misbehaviour can be caused by lack of clear sight
Exceptionally poor spelling despite being an able reader
Regular careless miscuing of known words - reading words incorrectly
Underachievement - especially when you know he/she is more able
Screwing up eyes in light
Consistent copying from a neighbour
Eyes that look crooked or misaligned like a squint
Eyes that look red or watery
Eyes that move eccentrically - turn in or out
Difficulty looking directly at your face or eyes - this can be related to nystagmus
Lack of confidence in an unfamiliar environment like a new school or supermarket
Distress in a noisy, busy environment
Covering one eye to look
Turning head rather than moving eyes to follow a target

If you do think they have a problem seeing at all get their eyes checked by an optician or at A&E in an eye hospital.

2022-11-27T22:21:00.006-08:00

Neuroplasticity and Special Needs

An important area of research underlying work with children and young people with an injury to the brain is neuroplasticity. 50 years ago the brain was believed to be permanently hard-wired and unchangeable. Once it was fully developed nothing that could be done to change it. That had implications for children with learning difficulties. However research by neuropsychologists such as Aleksandr Luria and Mark Rosenzweig and psychiatrists like Norman Doidge has shown that old view of the brain is wrong. Neuroplasticity means that the brain can be rewired at any time of life. This must give hope to parents of children with learning difficulties, not to mention an adult who has a stroke.

The Russian psychologist, Luria was the founder of neuropsychology. He combined psychoanalysis with neurology. His book 'The Man with a Shattered World' is about Lyova Azetsky, a soldier with a shrapnel wound to the brain. He writes "Great damage to the left side deep inside the brain - in a coma then awake – had very odd symptoms..." Shrapnel was lodged in the part that helps us understand the relationship between symbols. He could not understand cause and effect, logic, or spatial relationships. He couldn’t tell his right from his left. He didn’t understand in, out, before, after, with. So he couldn’t understand a whole word or sentence because all those things involve relating symbols. Luria however had no treatment for Azetsky. Luria worked before the advent of MRIs but he mapped out the functions of areas of the brain through his extensive work with adults with specific brain damage. By observing the symptoms of certain wounds to the brain he concluded which areas are responsible for what functions.

The breakthrough came in the 1960s when Mark Rosenzweig, a pioneer in brain plasticity, conducted experiments on rats in the laboratory. Rosenzweig’s studies of laboratory rats at UC Berkeley in the 1950s and '60s, showed that "environmental therapy" can stimulate brain growth. Rats living in an "enriched environment" with stimulating interactive tasks performed better at learning activities than those in passive, impoverished conditions. Rosenzweig’s work was thorough and was groundbreaking. Hw wrote, "We did not invent the concept of the 'enriched environment,' but I believe that our publications introduced the concept and the term to the neuroscience community." In 1982, he was officially recognized for demonstrating that the weight, chemistry and structure of the brain are affected by environmental stimulation.

In ‘The Brain that Changes Itself’ (2007), Norman Doidge, the Canadian psychiatrist describes the case of Barbara Arrowsmith Young, who had notable strengths, such as a remarkable auditory and visual memory and highly developed frontal lobes. But she had significant learning difficulties. She read Luria’s account of Azetsky and recognised all her symptoms in that soldier. In particular though she could easily memorize things she could not understand spatial relationships, which meant among other things she was unable to read and unable to tell the time. She saw everything in fragments. Azetsky had shrapnel lodged deep in the left temporal lobe. Luria located Azetsky’s brain injury to the intersection of the temporal occipital and parietal lobe. This is the point where visual images, spatial relationships and sound/language are all integrated. It is the juncture where perceptual information is associated. Because this area of the brain was damaged the subject could not relate his perceptions or parts to the whole. He could not relate symbols to one another. This gave Barbara an understanding of what was wrong with her. But the answer came when she read the work of Rosenzweig. His work with rats established beyond doubt that extra stimulation helps to modify and enlarge the brain. If a brain can be modified and changed then by enriching the environment and providing the right kind of stimulation and intervention the weaknesses in her brain can be improved. Barbara worked out a scheme of exercises and worked on them intensely over a period of many weeks. The result was that she actually improved her ability in all areas. She could now tell the time. She understood what people said in real time. She grasped logic, maths, grammar and reading.

Barbara was so successful that she started a school where the focus was on brain exercises. Examples of those exercises are tracing complex lines to stimulate neurons and memorizing poems by rote. Ironically in the 19^th and 20^th century educators advocated practices, which Barbara introduced extensively in her school. At one time classical education involved learning by heart long poems and recommended attention to precise handwriting and elocution. These practices now dropped from educational programmes are acknowledged to be good for stimulating neurons and increasing the size of the brain.

2022-11-25T22:22:00.005-08:00

Minimalism and the CVI Child

This was first published on the CVI Scotland website. Here's the link - https://tinyurl.com/bdzfr4z3

I'm an advocate of minimalism when it comes to children's learning. The word first appeared in 1913 in a painting of a simple black square on white by Kasimir Malevich. His art was innovative and contrasted starkly with the lavish, decorative styles of the past and it paved the way for the 20th century minimalist movement. In sculpture and painting, large, bold and simple shapes replaced elaborate intricate designs. In music, it was characterized by repetitive short phrases and in writing brief, snappy statements replaced decorative, flowing language.

Recent research shows that minimalism applied to education can have a dramatic effect on children's attention and learning. Highly decorated walls are distracting and can obstruct learning; a classroom stripped to its bare essentials can offer a calming, focused learning environment. Removing what is superfluous enables what is important to stand out; there is an unambiguous focal point and it can be a calming influence. The trouble is there are conflicting needs in classrooms, such as the placement of resources, workbooks, equipment, displaying and celebrating children's work to demonstrate outcomes or the illustrating of key words and concepts. Again, many of us teachers are incurable hoarders and our lives, our workplace and our homes are full of clutter. It is the world we live in and are used to. It takes an effort to change habits of a lifetime. But many people are finding that decluttering is liberating and helps them create a fresh start, like spring cleaning.

What of CVI children in the special school? They are the ones who will most benefit from a minimalist approach. But here there are even more challenges because of heavy equipment, hoists, beds, wheelchairs, objects of reference, all that necessarily goes with the child. Are these children progressing as well as they could? Or is their world just too full and too cluttered? Are they able to see the wood for the trees?

How can we create the optimum environment for the child with CVI? In a sense it depends on the child and their visual condition. Damage to the visual pathways can affect a child in different ways. Damage to the ventral stream can affect recognition of objects, people, and places. But if the dorsal stream is damaged it can impact spatial awareness, finding things, moving about and the attention system. The ventral stream and dorsal stream are terms for the directions of flow of information in the brain. Starting from the visual cortex at the back certain forms of visual data are transferred to the temporal lobes, which form a sort of library or storage system for names, objects, faces and places in the brain. This is the ventral stream meaning 'underside'. The other route is up to the parietal lobes, where incoming sensory data are brought together where spatial processing takes place without our knowing. This is the dorsal stream, meaning 'upper side or back'. I am told that more children have dorsal stream damage so it makes sense to focus on a problem many of these children have that affects making sense of their busy world, seeing in an overcrowded environment and moving about in space. They cannot make sense of what they see because there is too much visually to take in, too much to understand, and the pace of constantly changing scenes is too fast for their brains to keep up with.

Toys strewn over the floor create clutter. A child can only play with one toy at a time. Why have more than one on show? The only reason I can think of is you may be giving your child options or encouraging choosing. In which case let the child choose and put the other one away. A CVI child may well not see multiple toys in a box, they may only be able to see one thing. In the nursery one activity I often observe is emptying the box of Lego and construction toys out onto the carpet. Our CVI child is likely to find this overwhelming so why not have an area just for him where he can take out of a box or bag one toy or Lego brick at a time. I vividly recall a scene in mum's front room where the little boy sat on the floor with three toys placed in front of him. He stared blankly. Mum took away one leaving two and he continued to stare blankly. Mum took away another leaving only one toy and he immediately looked and reached out for the toy. That was either a major coincidence or a dramatic demonstration of the power of minimalism, the 'power of one'. Put only one toy in front of the child and he can make sense of it. 'Less is more'.

If you cannot strip the room to bare essentials try keeping at least the front wall and teaching area clear. Avoid sticking cards or labels to the outside of the interactive whiteboard. Try switching off the front light and dimming the lights. Space each display item so there is a spacious gap between each one. Make displays large and contrasting. Keep the workspace clear. For focused work have a dedicated corner or cupboard that is plain and uncluttered. Look into the literature about creating a 'tent' by Suzanne Little or 'box' by Lilli Nielsen. Storage of toys should be neat and perhaps covered by a 'curtain'. Each object of reference should have its own 'box' in a cabinet and this can also be covered by a curtain.

Minimalism for the CVI child means creating a world where only one thing is allowed to be the focus of attention all the time. Make that one thing pop out so it is obvious by using bold contrast, large details and recognisable shapes. By following the example of Malevich's radical black square on white we can make the world of some of our CVI children a more meaningful place.

2022-11-24T22:39:00.006-08:00

Simulating the way she sees

Over the years I have done numerous training sessions in venues such as schools and more recently online, on the topic of supporting the child with impaired vision with a whole range of professionals and parents and carers. One essential part of the training is always using the so-called sim-specs. It is possible to give anyone a rough idea of what it is like to have, for instance, a restricted field of vision (sometimes called ‘tunnel vision’) by putting on a pair of sim-specs. Then wearing these as the person tries out the activities and tries to walk around they have a sort of idea what it is like for the child. It is far more difficult to ‘simulate’ an impairment of vision caused by different areas of the brain rather than the eye itself. We are of course talking about cerebral visual impairment or as it is sometimes called cortical visual impairment.

Simulate This

If only I could make you see

How even half my world appears to me

If I could only just describe

Precisely how my eyes

Send signals to my brain

Then it would be plain

How different my world is from yours.

You see, the problem’s not my eyes,

It’s the axons and the cells

The connecting bits inside

I may seem to have good sight

But deep within my skull,

Buried in this shell

Is a mesh of lanes and lines

And there’s something not quite right

In the tangled strands of white

The stuff that’s wrapped in myelin

Try smearing Vaseline

On the centre of your specs

Now roll up a newspaper

And notice the effect

As you peer through the hole

What you see is imperfect

It’s a narrow, murky world

Now try looking through one eye

And cover up one side

Can you now understand

What it’s like to be a person

With a sight impaired condition

And that’s less than half my world

And it’s still not what I see

Try blinking slowly,

So half the world is dark

And the other half is light

I’ll tell you what it’s like

Your sight becomes disjointed,

Your vision interrupted,

Things appear and disappear

You’re missing half the world

So of course, you’re in a whirl

Wear sun glasses indoors

And switch the house lights off

Watch how the room becomes

Confusing and obscure

Note how it makes you feel

Afraid and insecure

And that’s still less than half my world

And it’s still not what I see

Try out the sim specs,

Tunnel vision, and RP

Hemianopia and myopia

What exactly do you see?

You see something that resembles

What’s happening to me

But it’s still less than half my world

And it’s still not what I see

It’s hard to grasp I know;

It’s still a mystery

I cannot see like you

And you cannot see like me

All I ask for please, is

A bowl of empathy

Just try to see the world

As it is to me.

© MJ Sparrow 2022

2022-11-20T01:30:00.012-08:00

I thought I would try a different approach today. I tried to get inside the head of a young person with VI or one of the many kinds of CVI - cerebral vision impairments. So here goes & do please let me know what you think - by email: visionimpairedchildren@gmail.com - I have more poems to come.

Please Understand
They asked me what I could see
They inferred that I was blind
I said look you’ve really got it wrong
I didn’t mean to be unkind
It’s like a missing part
That fell out of my head
They laughed at me as if I joked
Or misheard what I said
How can I explain to you
The air that I inhale
Or the force that pins me down
When I’m blasted by a gale
So how then can you comprehend
The different way I see
I wished that I could tell them
Exactly what I mean
Or even better show them
By projecting on a screen
Then perhaps they’ll understand
And not treat me like I’m three
© MJ Sparrow 2022

Katie Price reveals the challenges of caring for son with ASD, CVI and a rare genetic disability.

2015-03-13T10:53:00.002-07:00

Katy Price's son Harvey

Vision Stimulation or Vision Training - Does it Help?

2015-03-08T11:49:00.005-07:00

I was asked to put the case for and against vision stimulation. This is an short outline of my talk. The full outline can be downloaded from the link below.

What is Vision Training?

· VT is for a child who cannot see to encourage them to see

· Initial Assessment: Establish what child can see & present accordingly

o Preferential Looking - Keeler Cards/Cardiff Cards

o Observation / parent questionaire

o Can they see faces/lines/shapes/colours/lights?

· Often small lights/flashing lights gain child’s attention

Against VT

· Overheard doctor say to parent: “no evidence extra stimulation makes any difference… “

· Research: Paucity of child studies - ambiguous & inconclusive

o Poverty of literature – “there have been few studies to systematically and quantitatively evaluate … patients with CVI” (Good, 2001). (i.e. research into VT for CVI)

o Samples are small / non-robust

o Unethical to withhold from needy child

· May damage child’s self-esteem

For VT

· Research: Can also support VT

o Only ‘ambiguous’ because of low incidence/small samples

o Useful studies & papers from a few CVI ‘specialists’

- Ophthalmologists: Good & Hoyt (California); Good & Groenveld (British Columbia); Gordon Dutton (Glasgow); Dr Lea Hyvarinen (Finland)

- Teachers: Lilli Nielsen (Denmark); Roman (California)

Underpinned by three theories:

· #1. The Critical Period

· #2. Brain Plasticity

· #3. The Responsive Environment

The full outline argument is can be downloaded from this link:

VISION TRAINING - DOES IT HELP?

Barriers and Bridges to Learning

2015-03-08T05:55:00.003-07:00

Here's an AV presentation I put together for tomorrow's training at the Eye Hospital. It examines some of the barriers that hinder a child's learning and some 'bridges' that we can employ to improve the success opportunities of visually impaired children.

iPad Apps for Vision Stimulation

2015-03-07T07:37:00.000-08:00

Following on the last post, I couldn't resist sharing this very cool You Tube video showing some of the apps available for visually impaired kids. Enjoy!

The Finger Reader

2014-07-09T10:52:00.003-07:00

The Finger Reader

Check out this link and find out the newest technology to read text via a ring on your finger.

Adapting worksheets for a visually impaired Year 1 Pupil - 2

2014-02-04T12:16:00.001-08:00

At the risk of a some possible repetition allow me to emphasise and expand on the following points about modifying a worksheet for a visually impaired child.

More on Pictures and Photos

Photos taken in the classroom are not always the best quality. Yet for a visually impaired child image quality is really important. Therefore it is worth taking the time and effort to improve certain features of a photo taken in school. A simple (free) photo-editing programme will be useful here. What needs to be done:

- increase the contrast between light and dark areas

- increase the brightness of dark areas

- increase the detail in the shadows

- increase the highlights

- don’t bunch photos together in a cluttered collage but separate them out and surround each one with a border.

- Enlarge the photos so important details like children’s faces are clear.

Drawn images taken from a book can be equally difficult to distinguish, especially if they are photocopied. One image I looked at in an exercise book for instance was of a dark blue wave against a dark sky, with a tiny spark of lightning flashing across the sky and a human speck someone in the scene. It expressed a storm at sea, but was very hard to separate out the details. With the picture went some similes on the subject of storms and waves. With such a picture it might be best to start with a different image, either from the Internet or drawn if necessary. Enlarge the image so that small details are clear. If necessary only have one picture that is really clear instead of two or three pictures that are not clear. The key thing is to consider what is essential for the child to know. Images are illustrative and it is not always vital to have more than one.

Allow me to repeat this point: please avoid placing text on a picture or indeed any sort of busy background. This is bad practice and makes text very hard to read.

The colour of the paper used for text can also be quite crucial. With our student the colour yellow seems to work well so paper is usually yellow. But for others it may be a pastel colour. One student cannot read black text on a white background. So each child is different and needs to be assessed in this respect.

The following points are also worth considering:

1. The support assistant’s role is increasingly one of adaptation. Especially as the curriculum becomes more advanced and the child becomes more independent, less reliant on the adult support the assistant working with the child will spend more and more time making resources and preparing work in advance. Therefore advanced planning is essential to his/her role: planning with the class teacher and planning resources to supplement the curriculum in one-to-one sessions. Access skills like touch typing will become more and more important as the LSA spends more and more time training the child to become proficient in keyboard skills.

2. For this reason it is important that the balance of work reflects this role. I suggest that a minimum of 25% of the LSA’s time is spent with resource making. Often it may be more than this.

3. When re-formatting a page and enlarging text boxes sometimes the enlargement messes up the formatting. Some programmes like MS Publisher are especially bad like this. So to avoid this you can reduce the amount on the page and enlarge what is left clearly. In this case ‘less is more’. Also please note that elaborate borders are not essential; you can profitably remove the pretty penguin borders around the edge of a page of a worksheet and thereby create much more space for a decent A4 enlargement.

4. When entering guidelines for handwriting it helps to make all the lines darker; where necessary enter a space between each line of writing or as it may be each set of 3-guidelines. On the other hand a simple pencil line can be adequate where the child has to trace over a letter in black pen.

iPad Apps for Children with Downs Syndrome

2014-01-30T13:32:00.001-08:00

It was only fairly recently that I discovered the striking statistic that all children with Down syndrome have a visual impairment. I know that many I work with wear glasses. I also am aware that frequently they have no focusing ability so they wear bifocals.

I am grateful to Beverley Dean for the info in todays post. In 2011 she founded Special iApps for their son who has Down syndrome because they found it extremely hard to find suitable apps for him. So she and her husband made their own. This is an over-view of some of them and where you can get them.

Special Words: allows you to do picture-word matching activities, where you can also create your own word lists from your own photos and entering text and audio

Special Stories: We use this daily for home-school communication, it can also be used for instruction - sequences, social stories and topic work to support curriculum.

Special Numbers: is number ordering and counting skills up to 20, all activities can be configured in the settings to suit the child's level.

The Touch-apps are simple cause and effect apps that support those at the early stage. 28 word, 20 numbers, 12 shapes, 12 colours, and emotions which is free.

All our apps (with the exception of Special Numbers) are available for Apple and Android devices and are switch accessible. Special Numbers in not switch accessible and only available for Apple.

Please refer to our website, as there is full user documentation and videos on each app http://www.specialiapps.co.uk/en_gb/apps.html

Please read the Durham iPad report

http://www.specialiapps.co.uk/en_gb/Durham-iPad-project.html

We are currently working on new apps, so to keep in touch we are on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and have an email subscription http://www.specialiapps.co.uk/en_gb/contact.html

iPad Use and Apps for Visually Impaired Children

2014-01-24T11:58:00.004-08:00

It is a great privilege for me to work with young adults who are at the start of their careers; some of these are highly qualified and skilled. They work in schools for a while to gain experience and then move on - and rightly so - to a higher and better paid career. They bring with them invaluable skills to their task of working with young visually impaired children. Josh is such a person and I asked him to share a little of his experiences hoping they will be of benefit to others.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Working as a learning support assistant with a visually impaired child, I’ve found the most helpful tool on an iPad is by far the ability to zoom in on text and images without loss of quality or contrast. It is a simple tool that both Colin (not the actual name) and I can use with ease and it drastically improves his ability to see books, worksheets and other learning resources.

For Braille the best app I have encountered so far is BraillePad. BraillePad replicates a traditional brailler with bright keys and a realistic sound when you braille a letter. It is a good size for a five year old’s hands although it is missing the space bar, which creates confusion when it comes to finger placement. Being considerably easier to use than a real brailler it allows Colin to reach the keys that spell out his name, which is important to him.

The Adobe Reader App is great for reading e-books as PDFs. It’s quick, easy to use and doesn’t have adverts like other PDF readers on the Appstore.

Letter School is an app used to practice handwriting and letter shapes. The colour and contrast on this app is perfect for Colin’s needs. The large graphics and interactive feel is very stimulating for him and makes this type of work enjoyable and effective. Particularly the light show sequence it produces when writing the letter ‘A’. This is a great app for all primary school children but it is especially appropriate for the young visually impaired child.

I am realizing more and more the importance of sound effects on apps for visually impaired children. Just a simple sound that signals positive feedback seems to make a world of difference when getting Colin to do his work. This may be the case for all young children but in the case of Colin the use of this other sense when working makes the lesson all the more interesting.

Josh Whettingsteel,Westminster, London

Advice on adapting worksheets for a visually impaired Year 1 pupil

2014-01-22T10:03:00.001-08:00

When a visually impaired child enters formal schooling there is much to consider. First it is important to understand the child's eye condition. Then it is vital to appreciate the impact of that condition on a child's learning. I work with teachers and learning support assistants giving advice on how to modify and adapt their learning materials. I thought it would be helpful here to summarise some of that advice for others who are interested. This is what this post is about.

Contrast on Handwriting sheet

Enhance or increase the contrast in all parts of a sheet.

Where the pupil has to trace make sure the tracing letters are significantly darker than the background and that the pupil can clearly/easily see what he has to trace. He can go over the letters in the dark coloured pen that he uses. If the letter-lines are faint the pupil will struggle to see what he has to trace.

Guidelines

Make sure there are ALWAYS dark bold guidelines for the pupil to write between on all pars of the worksheet where he has to write otherwise his letters may become too large and untidy.

Instructions, title & date

Instructions, titles and the date should be made bigger - about 24 point. He should be able to read texts on a worksheet without resorting to his magnifier.

Yellow paper

YELLOW paper is a good colour to use; alternatively use off-white. Pure white can be too reflective and may cause a difficulty for a child who is light sensitive.

Spelling

Increase the character spacing between letters. Otherwise the pupil may have difficulty distinguishing between two similar letters or distinguishing individual letters in a word. For a child with nystagmus spelling is always a major issue because of this. Whole words have a pattern and can be read/recognized more easily than each individual letter in the word.

Highlighting

Key words or items of grammar should be highlighted for emphasis (e.g. ‘s’ in plurals). Use one of the following depending on what is appropriate:

- bold type

- black marker

- coloured highlighter

- different coloured felt pens

Size of worksheet

The larger the page the more difficult it is for VI pupils to scan; the smaller the page the better. A4 is the standard size for the UK; it is best to keep the pupil’s worksheets the same size as the other pupils. It reduces his sense of being different. If an A4 sheet is enlarged to A3 ideally it should be cut down in some way. Here are some suggestions:

- Cut off wide borders

- Cut the sheet in two or three.

- Reduce the information on the sheet. If it is a grid or table with up to 20 rows in a column cut down the number of rows to 10. Probably the information can be put into 10 rows and the remaining 10 be unnecessary.

- Reduce the task; it is good practice when differentiating work for a VI child to reduce the work they have to complete. Have 8 sums instead of 10, 6 spellings instead of 8 and so on. Because they are slower at scanning they may likely finish later than their peers. This in turn can affect their self-image and give a false impression of their true ability.

Extra Box for multiple-choice answers

Sometimes in a sheet the answers are in a box at the top of the page. If the pupil has this box copied he can match it while he is scanning the text for the answer. This should speed up his working.

Speed and short-term memory

A visually impaired pupil’s scanning of a page can slow him down. Find creative ways of helping him to speed up.

- Put his finger on his answer so he can quickly find it again

- Use a notepad to jot his answer down

Handwriting
A VI child often writes quite large in order to be able to read his writing back. It is sometimes necessary to assist the child to write a little smaller and neater. Here are some suggestions to facilitate this:

- Ruled guidelines for handwriting on all worksheets even in boxes

- A consistent gap between lines so handwriting is not too big

- Sample/example of expected word size

- Training & practice on ascenders/descenders (d/y)

- Training & practice on letter/number formation

- Tricks/techniques to aid letter/number formation (e.g. use of iPad app)

Pictures

Pictures will often need to be adapted. In typical worksheets picture details are far too small for a visually impaired child to make out. Here are some suggestions:

- If the pictures are not essential remove them or reduce them drastically. Four pictures of sports activities at the top of a worksheet do little more than add to the complexity of the page. They may be intended to brighten up the page or make the work more interesting but they are not essential. Instead of four insert one large clear picture or have no picture at all.

- Where pictures sit alongside text to illustrate the text, they may well be not essential and can be removed, making use of the extra space to enlarge and clarify the text instead.

Font typeface, size & formatting

- It is generally not a good idea to use italic formatting for emphasis on titles or in body text of a page. Italics are not easy to read particularly for a child with nystagmus.

- A sans serif font is best; this is an undecorated font with no curly edges or corners; Times New Roman is a classic serif font. Even Primary Infant Sassoon has serifs. Arial does not and is the standard font used by the RNIB.

- It is important to use the correct font and size of font for the child. If the pupil needs 24 point text remember that different fonts are different sizes. 24 point Primary Infant Sassoon is smaller than 24 point Arial.

Visual Stimulation for infants

2013-11-12T04:37:00.001-08:00

Pete Eckert - A Blind Photographer

2013-06-08T02:46:00.001-07:00

Pete Eckert - A blind Photographer

I didn’t take photography seriously until I went totally blind. I was trained in sculpture and industrial design. I have always been a visual person and planned to study architecture at Yale, but then I started to lose my sight. A doctor coolly told me I had Retinitis Pigmentosa and left the room without further comment. While listening to Dr. Dean Edell, on a San Francisco TV network, I learned I would go completely blind. A caller asked about RP. I remember the doctor’s words; they hit me like a hammer. “A person with RP gradually looses their sight until they go completely blind.“ There is currently no cure for RP.

It took me two years to recover and figure out what to do. I was a carpenter at the time. I did first-rate work. So I never needed to hunt for a job. None-the-less I worked very little, just enough to pay the rent and for food. My girlfriend, Amy, stood by me during this difficult time. Amy and I were engaged. I worried about the future. At one point I laid out charts graphing the loss of vision over time for her. I told Amy if she left me after we married I wouldn’t hold it against her. She stuck it out. In June we will be married 26 years. Thank you Amy.

Miss Blindsight - a Blind Photographer

2013-06-08T01:22:00.003-07:00

Miss Blindsight a blind photographer

When noted photographer and sculptor Alice Wingwall began losing her sight, she became determined to continue making visual art. Now almost completely blind, Wingwall remains a vital visual artist, making lyrical and poignant photo-based works and installations that often express her experience of being without sight.

Wingwall suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary degenerative disease of the eye. After all but losing her perception of light a number of years ago, Wingwall discovered that a great deal of her experience of vision happens in her mind. The brain is capable of representing line, color and perspective even without the help of eyesight.

She rarely photographs all alone -- she asks colleagues, including her husband, architect Donlyn Lyndon, to look through her lens and describe what they see. During this collaborative process, she describes her "mind's eye" image and asks if the camera captures this view, using her deep store of memory for other comparison points.

Along with her memory, Wingwall relies to a great degree on her other senses in making her photographs. She may feel the heat of the sun in order to get a sense of the strength and direction of the light source, and she may similarly sense the reflected light radiating from her subject.

Wingwall often uses auto-focus cameras to capture images. In addition, she uses an array of lenses intended to capture her failing sight. Although a 50-millimeter lens renders an image close to what the human eye sees, Wingwall is fond of using wider lenses and panoramic cameras that warp the image and represent her newfound inner vision of the world.

Several of Wingwall's photographs deal with her experience of working as a visual artist without the aid of sight. Many of her works feature architecture -- one of her favorite subjects -- superimposed with images of her guide dog, Slater, or his predecessor, Joseph. These images highlight the ways in which her negotiation of the world around her is now mediated through another being, and the intimate relationship that that establishes between her and her dogs.

She co-directed a film with Wendy Snyder MacNeil titled "Miss BlindSight/The Wingwall Auditions," which won Best Independent Film at the 25th anniversary New England Film and Video Festival.

How the brain organises vision

2012-12-20T23:54:00.001-08:00

Here's an interesting article about the brain organises vision.

The astonishing maps that reveal how our brain organises everything we see

Playworks Special Needs Toys

2012-10-22T01:53:00.001-07:00

I've just come across this great online shop for sen toys and resources. It is based in California but I suppose at a push you could have goods shipped over to the UK.

You'll find it here:

Special Needs Toys are separated into seven sub-categories to facilitate finding toys that address specific special needs and situations. All Special Needs Toys enhance child development, allowing children with diverse abilities to experience a variety of sensory feedback and stimulation. Distraction Toys also provide relief from stress and enhance a child's ability to cope.

Distraction

Distraction Toys enable children to turn their attention away from stressful situations and immerse themselves in play. These toys invite children of all ages to escape and explore, enabling them to cope. Meteor Storm is our most popular distraction toy. To activate a countinuously changing light display, a child must press and hold down the button. Letting go turns off the light. The child must focus on the act of play itself. Now available in two sizes. The larger globe of the original prevents young children from sticking the light in their mouths while the mini, with its breakaway cord, can be worn around the neck for instant gratification.

Light Up

Light Toys provide visual feedback and stimulation to both low vision and sighted children. Although lighting up is the primary function of these toys, all provide multi- sensory experiences. Meteor Storm, with its press and hold switch, engages the sense of touch and invites children to experiment with on/off and to track the continuously changing color patterns of the spinning globe. This spinning causes the globe to vibrate, stimulating "feel" when the child places his hand on the globe, enabling blind children to enjoy Meteor Storm too.

Sound

Sound Toys offer auditory feedback, enhance language and motor skills, develop spatial intelligence and understanding of cause and effect.Sound Peg Puzzles are Sound Toys that provide varied visual, tactile, and auditory experiences and enhance motor and language skills. Fitting each puzzle piece in its proper place enhances motor development and rewards success with the appropriate sound. The pieces and their sounds enhance communication skills as the child identifies each piece and mimics the sound. Sharing the experience with an adult or older child provides further opportunity to hone cognitive and language skills, as the two engage in conversation about the puzzle and its components.

Sound & Light

Sound & Light Toys offer both auditory and visual feedback. Although producing sound and light is the primary function of these toys, each requires the child to perform a task to elicit these responses, re-enforcing understanding of cause and effect and refining motor skills. Both Baby Buzz'r and the newer Busy Bee Baby Buzz'r are multi-sensory toys that not only light-up and sound off but also vibrate and provide phthalate-free teethable textured surfaces. Blinking lights, music, and vibration activate individually by easy on/easy off push buttons, allowing the child to experiment and figure out what happens when he presses the buttons. Eventually he will discover that he can control the functions, choosing a favorite, then adding another and another as he explores possibilities. The visual, auditory, and vibratory responses are gentle, and the vibrations cycle on and off to keep the child engaged.

Texture

Texture Toys provide opportunities to use touch to explore similarities and differences and to learn words to describe these characterisitics. Developing tactile discrimination skills enriches sighted children and lays the foundation for blind children to learn braille. Tangles, the ultimate universal playthings, feature a series of 90 degree curves interconnected to pivot 180 degrees at each joint. Just as a Tangle has no beginning and no end, there is no end to the pure delight children and adults alike experience when turning, twisting, bending and coiling a lightweight, portable Tangle. Playworks offers a variety of Tangles with texture, from the hard plastic Original with Texture to the Tangle Therapy with its soft, pliable coating and distinctive raised nodes. Their low impact motion relieves stress, strengthens finger muscles, and restores motion to joints. Teachers who use Tangles as a reward for children with autism report improved behavior: an increased calm and ability to cope with stressors that usually send them "over the edge" as well as increases in skill acquisition. Tangles invite manipulation and reward play with improved concentration and spatial relations and problem solving skills.

Communications

Children learn through play. Communications Toys enable children to develop cognitive and language skills, and foster creativity, planning and problem-solving. Quality play builds confidence and re-enforces a child's desire to explore and learn. Being able to communicate well enhances the play experience. The better a child is able to express his thoughts and feelings, the more likely he is to get along well with others. Acquiring social skills and becoming effective communicators are essential components of successful human development.

Emotional intelligence leads to more effective communications. The game Eggspressions helps children identify their feelings and develop problem solving skills while having fun. By sharing their feelings and working together, children figure out a happy solution to a challenge.

Oral motor skills are essential for eating and speech. Tooting, humming, whistling, and blowing toys exercise facial and oral muscles and encourage deep breathing and controlled blowing. Facial and oral massagers provide oral stimulation. Their low-intensity vibration calms and organizes sensory input. Jigglers, the only continuously "on" chewable oral facial massagers, turn on and off with a twist and come in two playful styles: a purple elephant and a green alligator.

Multi-Purpose

The versatility of Multi-Purpose Toys enhances motor, language, and cognitive development. Bilibo is one such toy. Its unique shape and bright colors arouse curiosity and encourage experimentation. Children sit in and on, rock and spin, stand on top of, and hop and jump from one to another. One Bilibo can cradle a doll; a row of them can become a train or anything else a creative mind can imagine. Delightful to all,Bilibo is a favorite for special needs play. Low to the ground, Bilibo allows children to experiment safely with the effects of gravity, a feature particularly valuable to the blind and visually impaired.

Special Note Regarding Toy Safety

No two children are alike in their development, abilities, limitations, or personalities, and all these factors must be taken into account when choosing toys. What is appropriate and safe for one child may not be for another. Manufacturers label toys with small parts that pose potential choking hazards to children as being "not for children under 3 years old;" however, that does not mean the toy is, therefore, appropriate and safe for all children over the age of three. Those children, of any age, who continue to put everything in their mouths require special consideration. We urge you to consider carefully the children for whom you are purchasing and to purchase with their needs in mind.

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