Tag: Life skills

CVI Mealtime Strategies

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As soon as I received my daughter’s Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) diagnosis in 2018, I began researching, reading, and brainstorming ways to help her begin using her vision throughout her daily routines (you can check out my introductory CVI reading recommendations here). 

The very first adaptation I can recall implementing was the mealtime strategy of placing a shiny, red gift bow on the handle of Rosalie’s spoon (I think I got this idea from reading the Little Bear Sees book?). At the time, Rosalie was 7 months old and her mealtimes consisted largely of being fed purees on a spoon. Prior to my learning about CVI, she never seemed to open her mouth in anticipation of the spoon; rather, she would open her mouth only after I gently touched the spoon to her lips. In hindsight, it’s pretty obvious that she didn’t see the spoon coming! 

Fast forward to placing a red, shiny bow on her spoon…and voila! Rosalie began opening her mouth as I brought the spoon towards her. That first easy adaptation literally changed our lives – and reminds me that even the simplest changes can be made to provide my daughter access to the visual world.

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Our CVI mealtime strategies have evolved numerous times throughout the past 2+ years, so today I’m sharing some of what has worked for us. Perhaps it will spark new ideas for your own mealtimes!

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“CVI-friendly” Access to Life Skills: Choosing Outfits

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I think we can all agree that being home-bound due to a global crisis like the Coronavirus pandemic is not ideal (to say the least). But, sometimes less-than-ideal circumstances can potentially have a silver lining for some.

In our case, my oldest child no longer needs to be at school by 8am(!), which means I can take my sweet time leading the kids through our morning routine of dressing, combing hair, and brushing teeth. My oldest two children need minimal assistance, so I have found myself better able to focus on these everyday life skills with Rosalie, my daughter that has Cortical Visual Impairment. Prior to our state’s school closures and stay-at-home orders, there was zero morning time to spend choosing outfits and Rosalie wore whatever I laid out the night before.

When I began introducing clothing options, Rosalie (2.5 years old) already knew the names of most colors – but that doesn’t mean you need to wait for this knowledge in order to begin! In fact, clothing could be a fun way to help teach colors (I do this frequently for Rosalie by describing the colors of shirts everyone in our family is wearing each day).

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Image of girl with braid and red bow looking at a wardrobe of red and white clothes. Text reads, “CVI-friendly” Access to Life Skills: Choosing Outfits {Everyday CVI}

How did I begin?

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