Participant Version
The purpose of this activity is to learn about a specific visual condition from a family or about visual conditions in general from an eye care specialist.
Preplanning
Select a family or eye care specialist to interview. If you do not have easy access to a family or eye care specialist, your instructor may provide a list of families and eye care specialists who have agreed to be interviewed. In some cases, participants may need to complete this project in pairs or in small groups.
Directions
- Call the family or eye care specialist to set up a convenient time and location for the interview.
- Bring a small tape recorder and note-taking material to the interview, being sure to ask permission to tape record the interview.
- Prepare a list of questions ahead of time. The instructor may want to approve the questions prior to the interview.
- If instructors choose to have parents sign a release of information, appropriate forms will be provided.
- Following the interview, write a two- to four-page paper highlighting the information you learned through the interview. Be aware of the need for confidentiality when interviewing parents and writing the paper.
- Send a thank-you letter to the person interviewed.
Possible questions for family members are listed below.
- What is your child's visual condition?
- At what age was the visual condition diagnosed?
- How was your child diagnosed with this condition?
- How did you feel when you learned of your child's diagnosis?
- What is the prognosis for your child's vision?
- How is your child's vision affected as a result of the condition?
- Does your child wear prescription lenses (glasses or contacts)? If so, what is the current prescription?
- When your child is wearing contacts or glasses, what changes in his or her functioning do you observe?
- How do you explain your child's visual condition to others?
- What resources have assisted you in learning more about your child's visual condition?
Possible questions for eye care specialists are listed below.
- Please describe the training required for you to become an eye care specialist.
- Please describe the types of children you see in your practice and the visual conditions they most often have.
- What treatments do you typically prescribe for strabismus? For amblyopia? For cataracts?
- When do you typically prescribe corrective lenses for young children with significant vision problems?
- What strategies do you use when explaining a child's visual condition to the family?
- What resources about specific visual conditions do you share with families?