functional vision

Today we meet Bronwen Scott and Heidi Zec. Bronwen is an independent Orientation and Mobility Specialist and Heidi is the mother of Luka, a delightful two year old with cortical visual impairment. They have worked together with Luka for the past 18 months to help develop his functional vision in the context of daily routines. This year Bronwen and Heidi have joined forces to create the CVI Community Australia. This online group connects and supports parents and professionals who are navigating the world of CVI. Heidi and Bronwen remind us that CVI is different to ordinary low vision. It is tricky to simulate, but in CVI we have that rare opportunity to be part of developing a child’s vision and preventing avoidable blindness. We have a lot to learn about CVI, and we need to start as soon as possible.

Four years ago, traveling independently in inner city Melbourne, Ross de Vent scored VROOM 14/50 for his functional vision (Fragments), and OMO 33/50 for his functional mobility (Capable). Ross now lives on the fringe of metropolitan Melbourne and has been in COVID isolation with his household and guide dog for the past 4 months. Today, we found that Ross’ vision and mobility scores have both dropped to VROOM 6/50 (Fifty shades of grey) and OMO 28/50 (Cautious), despite his clinical vision remaining stable. The drop in VROOM rating suggests that it not worth looking when there is nothing new to look at in the COVID cave, and the OMO score captured the gloom and limited life-space of COVID restrictions. During this time, Ross has valued frequent contact with his support worker, Josh Glover, in tackling technology challenges and making some big life decisions. Ross prompts us to rethink the relative importance of independent mobility when also wanting to stay COVID-safe, connect with people to dispel the gloom, and save some energy for professional commitments.

Lisa Petrie is an Habilitation Specialist with Guide Dogs UK, based in Scotland. Lisa enjoys working with children who have complex needs, and she also manages O&M services for adults, children and young people (CYP). Lisa and her teams have been piloting the VROOM and OMO functional assessment tools with all ages. In 2018, we tested out the VROOM and OMO tools assessing the functional vision and mobility skills of two year old boys, Theo and Luke. They both have CVI – cerebral visual impairment – and travel in a manual wheelchair. In this episode, we get an update on these wee bairns, and Lisa’s perspective on the VROOM and OMO tools for children with multiple disabilities.

Jo Anson-Smith is a dual qualified Occupational Therapist/Orientation and Mobility (O&M) Specialist working in Newcastle, Australia. When we talked with Jo in Episode 2, she was exploring tele-practice with occupational therapy clients, but she hadn’t yet made the leap into O&M tele-practice. In this episode we talk with Jo about teaching the long cane to a man with intellectual disability, via Zoom. Then Jo describes her first VROOM and OMO functional assessment with a client, via FaceTime – how she prepared, the technology she used, what worked well, and some scoring questions that arose: what if we don't or can't assess in a dynamic environment?