Bring the following
- silent flashlight with colored caps
- reflective surface (mirror, CD, metallic bowl)
- black-and-white design (checkerboard, bull’s eye, parallel lines, outline face)
- round yellow object (ball, balloon, ring, toy)
- toy with holes in it (ball, ring, block, plastic lid with holes in it)
- object with an unusual texture (Koosh ball, spiny toy, bumpy toy)
Objects to use from the natural environment
- bottle
- cup
- small foods (Cheerios, Chex, crackers, banana pieces, etc.)
- child’s own toys (which preferred? what size/shape/color?)
Observations in the natural environment
Child’s preferred positions (during play)
- on back?
- on tummy?
- rolling? (back to tummy? tummy to back?)
- sitting? (alone? propped? in Mother’s arm?)
- creeping (“scooting” with tummy on floor)?
- crawling (on hands and knees)?
- standing? (alone? hands held?)
- walking? (hands held? “cruises” around furniture? independently?)
Appearance of eyes
- appear healthy (no scaliness or crustiness of lids; no excessive tearing; whites of eyes not yellowish or reddened)?
- clear pupils (black, not cloudy)?
- eyes aligned (appear to move together)?
- eyes steady (no repetitive, jerky movements)?
Responses
- pupillary response (pupils constrict and dilate to light)?
- Hirschberg response (light reflections aligned)?
- fixation? (for about how long? for what kinds of objects?)
- following? (follows a moving target? what kind of target? how far away?)
- toys?
- people?
- shifts gaze (from one object to another and back)?
- visually directed reach (looks at object being reached for)?
- imitates facial expressions?
- recognizes familiar silent faces? (at what distance?)
- uses vision to explore?
- motivated by vision to attempt to get or move toward object?
- examines objects at near point visually?
- finger-feeds (can locate a food piece on the tray and feed self)?
- interested in pictures and books?
Perceptions
- Can the child can fixate and follow, at what distance, and with what size and color objects?
- Can the child use vision to explore? At what distance?
- Does the child have a visually directed reach? How accurate is it?
- Is the child able to grasp? What type of grasp is it?
- Does the child possess the physical ability to move:
- Can the child sit? Is the sitting developmentally appropriate?
- Can the child creep or crawl? Is the crawl developmentally appropriate?
- Can the child walk? Is the walk developmentally appropriate?
Acknowledgments
Bishop, V. (2004). Checklist for functional vision assessment: Birth to 3. Chapel Hill, NC: Early Intervention Training Center for Infants and Toddlers with Visual Impairments, FPG Child Development Institute, UNC-CH.
Visual Conditions Module 07/27/04
S4 Handout C
EIVI-FPG Child Development Institute
UNC-CH