Early Intervention Team Resource

I was reflecting the other day after a home lesson with an early intervention team about some ideas I shared with them. I thought about how important it truly is for all members of the team to understand how unique a vision impairment is. It is my experience that the field of vision impairment is the one area that intervention teams lack the most information on.

I was fortunate that when I did early intervention, I was part of some awesome teams of professionals. I am grateful for all the knoweldge I acquired from working with OTs, PTs, SLPs and fellow early intervention workers. I also know that it was extremely important that I help my team understand how vision impacts all areas of development. It was also something I did initially with families. In fact, I do that to this day when I work with families and teams. The first question I ask is: How does your child see? If it is an older child who can talk for themselves, I ask them directly to explain what they see. The next thing I do with families is explain how vision works and how it impacts development.

I came across this article that I found on TSBVI a few years ago when I was first starting out in early intervention. This is a great resource for early intervention teams. It explains the basics of how vision works, suggestions for activities and a snapshot of services that a child with vision impairment needs.

Read the article at TSBVI.edu or follow the link, http://www.tsbvi.edu/Education/preschool.htm

Do it at home: Read the article and then highlight if there are items that you don't understand. Take your questions to your TVI. Also, look at the activity suggestions and pick one. You would be amazed at how well these activities work for a variety of children, not just those who have a vision impairment. Happy reading!!