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Transcript Start

LYNNE: The next characteristics we'd like to talk about is complexity. You can break it down into three different parts. The first part is the complexity of the visual target. If something is too busy, if it's too colorful or if there is just too much going on, an individual may not be able to look at it. Faces are an example of a very, very complex target. 
It's really common for students with CVI to seem like they're looking through you, or just in your general direction. They're not making eye contact. That is because they may just be aware of your face as a shape but not be able to process the internal details. And for some students, the social aspect of their visual functioning may lead others to believe that they have autism.

SARAH: We have seen students trying to build their capacity in this area: they look briefly at some item that is really too complex, but they keep returning to it. Like the guy who was looking at the stripes during the color section. He could just barely begin to look at that many colors, so he looks, looks away, looks again. This may be exactly the level of challenge he currently needs to draw his visual attention.
Another part of complexity is the complexity of the array. The array is the background or the number of objects that you're having somebody look at. Basically, it's visual clutter, a bunch of stuff in the same area, which makes it more difficult to identify which is the visual target. What's behind the object or what's around the object can cause problems with looking even if the object is a familiar object.

LYNNE: Christine Roman likens this to hidden pictures in "Where's Waldo?". She has also compared what a child with CVI sees to what we see in a kaleidoscope.
Now let's look at a video example of the complexity of the array interfering with visual functioning. Very some very familiar objects are presented on visually complex, unfamiliar backgrounds. When the array is simplified, the child is able to detect and reach for a favored item. 
(Lily with wallpaper video)

SARA: A final area of complexity to consider is the complexity of the sensory environment. Individuals may be unable to process information more from than one sensory channel at a time. Since vision is more difficult to process than other sensory information for these kids, given the option to attend to something easier like sounds or touch, we see those senses take over the brain's attention. This leads to decreased use of the visual sense and decreased building of those neural pathways.
LYNNE: In this same vein, we don't only consider tactile and auditory processing, we also consider all types of attention. In the next clip, we'll see a student walking. It's pretty hard for him to walk around and keep himself balanced. You can see that he's really, really concentrating on walking and staying upright and the use of vision is reduced. So at this time, we have to consider what we're asking him to do visually, and perhaps reduce additional input. 
SARA: And this is a very social young man. Adults respond to what the kinds of things that our students enjoy, and that's a good thing. This student finds it engaging when adults say silly stuff. His TA was encouraging his participation using a silly voice, but when she was talking to him, his visual behavior decreased. We then tried silence while walking. In the second part of the clip you'll see an increase in visual behavior.
[Video Dialog]
Left, left, left.
Right.
Left.
Ooh, Oh, Uh-oh.
We're gonna scrape up against the wall unless we change course.
[end Video Dialog]
LYNNE: Let's look at another video example. Here's a child in an environment we all find challenging: the cafeteria. Of course, there is a lot of noise. The child is dealing with that level of noise quite well. And then, she looks at her teacher's face. Her teacher's face is very familiar, but as soon as her teacher adds a little extra noise in response to the social interaction the child initiated, the child looks away. It may have been too much auditory right then and there. 
[video of Cassie and Chika in the cafeteria]
SARA: It's very unnatural for us, as adults, when a child looks at your face, you wanna be like, "Oh, look at you." You naturally want to encourage this social connection. So sometimes we have to really stop ourselves from doing that because we're going to decrease the amount of time that the child can look at our faces. We may try waiting a little bit longer before responding verbally. We may want to just smile, widen our eyes, or make faces for a bit before we speak! 

[Video example of Diane from CVI Clinic?]
SARA: The complexity of the array or environment is also sometimes to blame for people thinking that the child's vision fluctuates. It's more likely that it's the environment or the visual array that has changed.