These materials are from the archive of the SSC Website and may be outdated.

 

University of Edinburgh
 

Introducing children to Low Vision Aids

Thursday 19 April

A Basic Training Course for Children in the use of an LVA

(Adapted from Low Vision Aids Effective Management of Children with a Visual Impairment. Heather L. Mason School of Education University of Birmingham.)

Develop Maintenance Skills.

  • Hold the LVA properly.
  • Communicate the purpose of the LVA.
  • Clean the LVA correctly.
  • Assume the responsibility for the LVA.
  • Store the LVA in a safe convenient location for easy use.
  • Start to use the LVA independently.

Develop Magnifier Skills.

  • Stabilise the reading material or object.
  • Recognise the focal length of the magnifier and maintain it.
  • Rest a stand magnifier on a page or flat surface.
  • Adjust the head to magnifier distance for comfort to obtain the maximum field of view.
  • Coordinate the appropriate hand, head and eye movements to the level of magnification used.
  • Track at a speed consistent with an appropriate reading level.
  • Develop stamina for the duration of an age graded task.
  • Select the appropriate LVA for a task.
  • Incorporate the use of the LVA for reading different print formats.

Develop hand held monocular skills.

  • Position the VIP for optimal viewing.
  • Scan the environment and locate a stationary object without the monocular.
  • Locate the stationary object with the monocular.
  • Focus on the stationary object.
  • Identify an object with the LVA.
  • Scan on a horizontal plane or use landmarks to find a stationary object with the monocular.
  • Adjust the focus for objects at various distances.
  • Copy familiar symbols.
  • Scan with the LVA to locate signs, symbols of objects in a variety of planes.
  • Track movement at a consistent focal distance.
  • Develop a consistent systematic scanning technique to locate moving objects and incorporate landmarks if possible.
  • Incorporate focusing and tracking on an object moving through a variety of different planes.

CCTV Training

  • Use of X-Y movable table.
  • Focusing of the camera lens.
  • Table height adjustment
  • Increasing and decreasing the magnification level
  • Use of on-screen typloscope.
  • Use of image reversal
  • Use of contrast and brightness controls.

It is important to note that pupils who have a higher reading speed require the CCTV to be set up with a maximal field size with minimum magnification consistent with good acuity, while slower readers giving maximal magnifications is useful despite the corresponding reduction in field.