CVI Explained

Help with CVI, for parents and teachers.

Free guides, printable pages and letters for school. Written by a parent of a kid with CVI.

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Or start with: Just diagnosed, School meeting, I'm a teacher, Explain it to family, Is it CVI?

Captions included. The views are approximations: CVI is different for every kid.

Resources

29 guides, checklists and letters. Free to read and print.

For parents

School and IEPs

For teachers and staff

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Understand CVI

She knows the cup is there. She can't find it.

CVI starts in the brain, not the eyes. A busy scene won't split into separate things.

A breakfast table crowded with objects on a checked cloth, including a red cup.
What you see.
The same table broken into sharp colored fragments. No object holds together.
Something like what she sees.
One red cup alone on a plain mat.
Clear the table. There it is.

No picture can show exactly what CVI looks like. It isn't blur, and it's different for every kid. Read the plain-English explanation.

What helps

  1. Clear the clutterOne thing on the table. A plain wall behind you.
  2. One thing at a timeLook, or listen, or reach. Pick one.
  3. Say who you are"Hi Maya, it's Grandpa." Faces are hard.
  4. WaitCount to ten. Don't fill the silence.
  5. Turn down the noiseA loud room crowds out vision.
  6. Mark the edgesBright tape on stairs and curbs.

And when she says she can't see it, believe her.

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Common questions

What is CVI?
A vision problem that starts in the brain, not the eyes. The eyes can be perfectly healthy. The brain has trouble turning what they send into a picture that makes sense. CVI stands for cortical (or cerebral) visual impairment.
What does a kid with CVI actually see?
Nobody can show you exactly, and it's different for every kid. Common things: a busy scene won't split into separate objects, only one thing shows up at a time, faces are hard to read, and the bottom of the view is missing. It isn't blur.
Why can she see it one day and not the next?
Seeing takes a kid with CVI real effort. When she's tired, or the room is loud, cluttered or new, it gets harder. It's not attitude, and it's not a lack of trying.
Will glasses fix it?
No. Glasses fix eyes, and CVI is in the brain. Some kids with CVI also need glasses for a separate eye problem.
Is CVI rare?
No. The US National Eye Institute calls it a leading cause of vision loss among kids in the United States. Many kids are never diagnosed, because their eye exams can look normal.

Sources: National Eye Institute and Perkins School for the Blind. How this site is checked.