Objectives:
Participants will increase their knowledge and skills in:
• Identifying the unique behavioral characteristics associated with CVI
• Describing the features of each of the CVI characteristics
• Describing the degree or level of CVI in terms of the 3 Phases of CVI
• Designing appropriate interventions and environmental adaptations for individuals with CVI
• Identifying unique behavioral characteristics associated with Cortical Visual Impairment and implications for access to AAC.
• Utilizing and understanding the practical implications of the CVI Range Assessment and the Communication Matrix to determine the appropriateness of AAC interventions.
• Designing student-centered visual and tactile adaptations to aided and unaided AAC specific to supporting students in Phase I, II and III of CVI.
Speaker:
Chris Russell is the Project Coordinator for the New York Deaf-Blind Collaborative and has experience as a classroom teacher and Teacher of Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired (TVI) working with children who have visual impairments and additional disabilities including deafblindness. Chris specializes in severe and multiple disabilities including deafblindness, cortical visual impairment (CVI), curriculum adaptations for children with visual impairments and additional disabilities, and instructional strategies supporting communication development for children with pre-symbolic communication. He holds the Perkins-Roman CVI Range Endorsement and conducts training in CVI Characteristics, Phases, Assessment and Intervention across NY state and around the country for professionals and families. He currently serves as an assistant instructor to Dr. Roman for Perkins E-Learning’s online course, “Cortical Visual Impairment,” and teaches graduate courses at Hunter College in teacher training programs for Blindness/Visual Impairment, and Severe/Multiple Disabilities.