Mentor Series: Strategies for Helping a Protégé Conduct an FVE and LMA This video is posted online with the following chapter markers: Chapter 1. The Eye Report Chapter 2. Eligibility Guidelines Chapter 3. Putting Together a Kit Chapter 4. Doing an FVE/LMA Chapter 5. Evaluation Templates Chapter 6. Writing the Report Chapter 7. Providing Constructive Feedback Description of graphical content is included between Description Start and Description End. Transcript Start [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. [Music face out] Fade to black. Chapter 1. The Eye Report [Title] Read by narrator Narrator: Supporting the Novice TVI in Conducting the FVE and LMA, January 19th, 2016. Presented by Chrissy Cowan, TVI, cowanc@tsbvi.edu [ Title end: ] Chrissy Cowan: We're going to be covering... the topic of Functional Vision Evaluations and Learning Media Assessments. And this is the first of a mentor series, this is really designed or targeted to mentors, and I know there are a lot of proteges in the audience, as well, so you're all welcome. I am not going to teach you how to do a functional in this... webinar. It's really-- resources that are going to support the mentor in working with a protege on conducting these two assessments that TVIs do. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Starting with the Eye Report Content: Need to know: • Required report components & how to get these • Where to find etiologies & impact on vision • Provincial Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired (www.prcvi.org/eye- conditions.aspx) • How to determine which students to evaluate Description End: So let's start with... the structure for this webinar. What- what I start with, when I'm working with a protege, is learning about the Eye Report. Remember a lot of the proteges ]that are hired, have not even had the eye course yet, so they don't really know what the-- how to interpret the Eye Report. They don't know about eye etiology. They may have gotten a medical dictionary in one of their classes, but they may not. So I'm going to start with the Eye Report. And what I think the protege needs to know is what are the required components of an Eye Report and how to get these. Sometimes you know we get eye reports that are incompletely filled in. And so what-- how do you get that information, and then, you know, what do you do with it? They need to know where to find etiologies and the impact on vision. And one of my favorite resources for this-- and by the way this webinar, and this PowerPoint, in particular, is full of... internet resources for you, as a take away. And we'll visit many of them today. But, this- this one right here, PRCVI.org, is really great. This is a nice website, in that, it has the etiology like oculo cutaneous albinism, it will give all of the symptoms of that, the implications of that. It's a very, very complete website, and it's really one of my favorite. So then the-- once you share with your protege, you know, resources for finding those etiologies, and what to do with them, that helps lay out what you're going to do in your functional vision evaluation. So, for example, if you see somebody with any kind of retinal problem, that kind of steers you in a direction when you step into-- to assess that student. Anyway, that's the importance of something like this. Then, another thing that you might want to work on with your protege, is how to determine which students to evaluate. [ Slide end: ] And this is probably going to be something that your own district has a policy about. It's-- it's really rather difficult... for them to make those distinctions. You know that you have gotten used to looking at a referral for a Functional Vision Evaluation and determining if, "Uh, this one maybe yes, and this one probably not." And you might have done training with your diagnosticians, and your- your assessment personnel, on what makes a viable referral, but your protege doesn't know any of that. And so, work with them on which kinds of kids will- will probably qualify and which kind might be an Eye Report that you- that you would want to turn away. Again, it's district policy. But I look at a-- for example, I'll look at a-- get an Eye Report on a student who has 20/20 in one eye, 20/200 in the other eye due to amblyopia, and, you know, perfectably correctable-correctable vision; and those a kinds of kids where I say, "Well, you know, I don't really think we need to do a Functional Vision Evaluation on this student." So I-- but I do work with people in advance-- assessment people and the... campus people, on when to refer and probably when not to refer. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Common Misperceptions Content: • Eye report has to be on the “state form.” It doesn't. • Eye report is the sole determining factor for eligibility. It isn’t. • Eye report will diagnose “CVI.” It usually won’t. Description End: Now, there are some common misperceptions... in regards to Eye Reports. And the first one is the Eye Report has to be on the state form. And it doesn't. That said, there are some components of the Eye Report that need to be... present in any kind of Eye Report for a student in Texas. And... for our State of Texas Eye Reports, that the student needs to have been evaluated, by the eye doctor on a field- on fields. Of course that doesn't happen a lot, does it? And they need to give a corrected visual acuity at distance and near, and... the Eye Report needs to be done by a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist, and then a prognosis when possible. And then, if exact measures can't be obtained, the eye specialist needs to state this, and provide their best estimates. When you are looking at the idea of a state form, just know that it does not need to be on that State of Texas Eye Exam form. Just make sure those components are in there. And- and that takes working with the eye specialist. But your protege doesn't know that. Another misconception is that the Eye Report is the sole determining factor for eligibility. It isn't. According to IDEA or federal law, no one evaluative measure can dictate whether or not a student gets special education services. So, what that means, often you might get an Eye Report that says, "This student qualifies," or "This student has a serious vision loss after correction." Well, sometimes it's in one eye. Sometimes it's... maybe serious, but it doesn't affect their learning. So, you can't take an Eye Report and you can't allow someone to say, "Well, this eye doctor says that he has a visual impairment," and that be the sole determining factor for eligibility. It takes the Eye Report and the Functional Vision Evaluation. Another misconception is that the Eye Report will diagnose CVI or Cortical Visual Impairment. It usually won't. [ Slide end: ] Usually, you find there's been a brain bleed, or a traumatic birth or something from another medical evaluation and it-- it may not necessarily show up in an Eye Report. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Common Misperceptions Content: • FVE can be done without corrective lenses. It can’t. • All children will qualify or continue to qualify. They won’t. Description End: Another misconception is that the functional can be done without corrective lenses. It can't. If corrective lenses were prescribed, and they are current, then you've got to have those corrective lenses in place before you can do your evaluation, if they make a difference. And then the last one that I've mentioned today is that all children will qualify or continue to qualify. [ Slide end: ] This seems very of course to mentors, but I've actually-- when I've worked with proteges it's surprised me the number of times that I've seen a report, where the student was able to do everything, and then at the very end the protege would say, "This student qualifies for services." And, you know, and there-- they don't. So there are a lot of proteges who feel that... by virtue of the fact that they're doing a functional, the student will automatically qualify. And so-- so you've got to run interference there. Also, there are proteges that inherit caseloads or students move into the district who have been on a VI caseload for decades-- Not quite decades, but for a long time. And-- and the-- the-- the protege is saying I really don't-- they are doing fine. They seem to be doing fine. So, you know, that's sort of a-- an indicator that that student needs an updated Functional Vision Evaluation. And... you as a mentor would oversee that process. Okay. Sometimes it helps your students to see a DNQ or a Does Not Qualify report that you've done, so that would be something to share with them. Chapter 2. Eligibility Guidelines Okay. So in addition to the Eye Report, another area that I would like you to cover with them are the eligibility guidelines. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Eligibility Guidelines Content: A student with a visual impairment is one who: • has been determined by a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist, • to have no vision or to have a serious visual loss after correction, • or to have a progressive medical condition that will result in no vision or a serious visual loss after correction. There is no acuity cut-off in Texas Note: Description End: So, remembering that a student with a visual impairment is one who-- and these are from the commissioner's rules-- "A student with a visual impairment is one who has been determined by a licensed ophthalmologist or optometrist to have no vision, or to have a serious vision loss after correction, or a progressive medical condition." Note that there is no acuity cutoff in Texas. For those of us that- that have our certification for many, many decades, there used to be. There is not anymore. [ Slide end: ] And so-- you can't-- you cannot say, "Well, you know, even your district can't say, "We don't qualify children if they have better than 20/70 acuity."" You can't use a cutoff-- an acuity cutoff, at all, to determine eligibility in Texas. What I look for when-- and I-- what I would hope that you share with your protege, is the Education Service Center Legal Framework. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker When you go to the legal framework, there is a section-- and this is the ESC 18 website, and when you go to the Education Service Center, Region 18 website, the legal framework is a very prominent icon there. And when you go to that, there's a long listing, but in there is visual impairment. And when you click on visual impairment, you come to this. So here are the federal and state requirements, and this is where I got the-‑ you know, here's that evaluation procedures, here's the evaluation data, blah, blah, blah, report by a licensed ophthalmologist and optometrist and here are those guidelines for... what the Eye Report or eye exam needs to include. And then when you go down here, it has the... the what a Functional Vision Evaluation needs to include, and when you-- these are live links over here. When you click on any of them, they go to the exact law, the wording of the law. So that's a very-- a very nifty little resource there. Chapter 3. Putting Together a Kit [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Putting Together a Kit (or Two) Content: Teaching Visually Impaired website (www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/assessment-kit- materials.html) Strategy to See website (dianesheline.wordpress.com/toolbox/functional-vision-evaluation-kit- materials-2/) Description End: The next thing that I want to talk about is putting together a kit. Now, when you are working with a protege and they maybe have taken the class on, conducting a Functional Vision Evaluation, they all have to do one. [ Slide end: ] And as you know, doing one functional is an n of 1, it's real-- you have to work a few years to get an array of the different kinds of kids for which you do functionals with. But it's a good start. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker So, I think they talk in their class a little bit about putting together a kit. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker And I wanted to show you this website, that I'm going to be going to a lot today, that has the components of a kit. This website that I'm sharing with you is teachingvisuallyimpaired.com. This woman, Carmen Willings, has done so much. I'm featuring this website heavily today, because it's so user friendly for- for teachers of students with visual impairments. So one of her links is the FVE kit materials. And she has... a lot of neat things written here. So the kit for readers, the writing tools, the reading tools, distance eye charts, she just has all-- color testing, miscellaneous items, pen lights, et cetera, et cetera. And so she just has all kinds of stuff here, on this website. Also, in your materials for this webinar, you should have-- there was a handout on kit materials. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker Now, this is Diane Sheline's new website. And for those of you who don't know Diane Sheline she is just a real expert on students with Cortical Visual Impairment. Se, these kit materials are going to be a little more appropriate, I think, for kids with Cortical Visual Impairment, and kids with multiple disabilities. So, she has this lovely chart here. And she even tells you, going across the top, which kinds of areas they're going to be testing. So that is-- that link is on your PowerPoint. [ Screen end: ] We did a little-- a little video of me before we did the live webinar, showing you what's in... a couple of kits that I have. And these are borrowed from Region 13, so that's the Austin area, so those of you who work in Region 13, ask Debra to borrow them. Not really! But... when I worked for Region 13, Katy and Debra and I put these kits together, now we're going to see a little video of what's in that kit. [ Video start: ] Chrissy Cowan: The functional vision and learning media assessment kit is pretty much a tool of the trade, and I'd like you to help your protege set one up. I have mine in two different rolling suitcases, and they're color coded. So one color is for the student that is functioning within a couple of grade levels of any grade, and the other one will work with kids that are infants, early childhood, and children with multiple disabilities. So I'm going to show you what's in the kit that I have for the typically developing children. First off, I have a supply of templates. And then I have, along with the template, something that tells me what to do. Of course, the protege should study this ahead of time, and you work on this ahead of time with them, so that when they are in the moment with the children, they don't have to... be studying this. A pad of paper, pencils, and then I have eye charts, because I start with a student when I'm in the classroom, I start by taking a near acuity, and a distant acuity that are informal, because they're in classroom lighting. So to do that, I have, of course, a tape measure. I also have a- a roll of masking tape or... a painter's tape that I can put on the floor to mark distances; and I like to start with 20 feet, but if the student can't function at 20 feet, then I have a tape on the floor for 10 feet. And then five feet. The chart that I really like the best is called the Signbloom chart, the original distant test chart for partially sighted. It goes into increments that are much larger than the typical eye chart. And then it goes all the way down. I also like it because it's numbers. More children can identify numbers than letters. Another nice chart that I like is the HOTV chart. What's nice about this is the student can have this little card in front of them and they can point. They don't have to be necessarily verbal. If they can match, they can do this chart. It also comes with flash cards. For near acuity, again, I like to have something with numbers. This is a lighthouse number card. And it's got the acuity measures down the side, like a typical acuity measurement card. This is another lighthouse card that requires that the student be able to read, but they're sentences that go down into smaller sizes. And then really one of my favorites, this also comes in... a letter format-- what I like about this, this gives you that standard measurement, 16 inches. However, if the student can't do that, of course, I let them pull to where it is and then I measure, I use the measuring tape, on the side as they are doing that, to kind of figure out how far they are away. I think as a vision teacher, we learn to judge those incremental distances, and you don't have to be always holding up... a measuring tape. For color vision, this color vision testing made easy is a really nice product. Let me show you what that looks like. However, if you don't have the money for this, I do yarn swatches, where I have two matching colors, they're in the little-- when you buy yarn swatches, they're in little bundles, and so you can ask the student to match. Color cards of the primary colors, and some secondary colors, just ask them to match. After I've done acuity, I'm going to go into contrast. This is an LEA symbols, low contrast symbol test. It gives you some fading out of the house, circle, square, Apple, kind of test. Another thing that I have in my kit is a light, a lamp. If there's a problem with a retina, the individual is probably going to benefit from some light. The student can optimize the visual. The rest of this stuff is really designed to follow your template. And what I like to do is I put stuff in baggies. And on the baggy, I write what I'm testing. So this is near. There are color photo pictures in here. So I'm going to be showing the student these photographs. And asking them if they can name them. So there's all manner of photographs in here. Some of them are of familiar objects, and some of them are not. I'm going to be showing you a how-to chart, and another document that tells you how to assess certain things. So this, for example, is muscle balance, and then I've just cut out the sheet and pasted it on a card. This is the procedure for testing muscle balance, and in the bag are the things that you need to test muscle balances. Pens, rulers, one regular ruler, or typical of what would be used in the classroom, and one modified ruler. Balls of different shapes. And again, on the bag it says what these are going to be used for, distance tasks, balls, tracking. This again is for distance, looking at distance and there're books, a very typical classroom activity is for the classroom teacher to be showing a book. And then you'll get all the way to some signage, that you might place at a greater distance, and see if the student, or how close the student needs to be to identify that. There's money to identify coins. Then, I have a bag for near reading, and this is packaging. So being able to read instructions on packaging, and I have a medicine bottle in here, with very small print. Make sure any medicine bottles that you put in here are appropriate; and they're empty. Playing cards and game cards that would be appropriate for the student's age. These are print formats, and they're a little bit different from those, even though this is a-- still a near task, there are some different kinds of things. So social studies books, tend to be really difficult visually. So there's a sample-- there's a book in here with samples of maps and charts and graphs. There's a matching card. There are-- there's another for outline picture, there's matching cards that go with them. Maps, menus, phone book, I'm not sure that we're using phone books all that much. but you get the idea. There are answer sheets, so whatever testing that the student is doing, answer sheets can be very, very visually complex. You want to test to see if they can do that. You are looking at coloring and cutting. So that those materials are here. Diagrams. This is a little Lego, can they put together something like this. Last but not least... I have a student booklet for the Jerry Johns Basic Reading Inventory, and this is part of the LMA piece. So, I do not have a whole lot of stuff in this particular kit on the LMA, but this- this one thing would be good to keep in a kit. I also have optical devices, because in the moment, if a student can't read some of these formats, like the medicine bottle, I might say, "Well, does this make it better?" And just show it to them. And I like to see their initial reaction to this. If it's a younger child, I might use a stand magnifier that sits on the paper. But it's just for me to get an initial reaction, because then I can give that information to the low-vision specialist. If you have the envision kit, there are some sample magnifiers in the magnifier one, and sample telescopes in the distance one. So this is a lighted. It is nice to have something that's lighted to see if a lighted magnifier works better. It's just preliminary information that you can then write in your report, and share with the low-vision specialist. This is a little standard telescope. With the distance thing, if they can't see that sign, I might focus this for them, this is not about a lesson on the monocular, but I will focus it on the sign and hand it to them and say "Can you see it now? Tell me what you see now." This is the can its for students with multiple disabilities and younger children. It's a different color. So, that when I'm leaving to go do a functional, I can grab the right color. It has quite a different array of things in here. Lots of shiny things, colorful objects, easier books, things borrowed out of the tadpole kit, textures, shapes, common objects, et cetera. Just a younger group of children, and kids with more multiple disabilities that you are trying to elicit some kind of visual response out of. If you have a CVI kit, or a kit that goes with your CVI tool, they would go in here. This is an example of a kit. I know yours looks very different. What I'm suggesting here is that you help the protege build one, and these are some of the kinds of things that you would have in it, following your own template. I would like to know where does your kit stuff come from, and what is something really cool in your kit. This time we're going to us auto the chat, so write in where does your kit stuff come from and-- and what is something that you really like in your kit? So, Linda has written in math worksheets from teachers... to check to see if the student can see geometry symbols. A variety of scantrons... Cheryl wrote. Linda wrote beads, small Candy pieces, solid white and black cloth for contrast. Uh-huh, sometimes you can... cut big pieces of felt. Bubbles, Monica has bubbles. Let's see, I found so much at Goodwill... coins, materials from the classroom, home, everywhere, Ann writes, home, classroom, Dollar Store, et cetera. Plastic Coke bottle with pony beads in it. Pour the beads on the floor and they put them in the bottle. The Dollar Tree. The Dollar Tree. [ Laughter ] Also, garage sales, how many of you do... pick stuff up at garage sales? After Halloween or before Halloween is a fabulous time to pick up stuff. Yard sales, Carol writes in. Okay. Well, let's go on, thank you for writing in. [ Laughter ] Liz says I take donations from teachers and co-workers. Chapter 4. Doing an FVE/LMA [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: The Art of Observing Visual Behaviors Content: • Teaching Visually Impaired website (www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/fve- observations.html) • Observations for the Functional Vision Evaluation - TSBVI publication pending • Strategy to See website – Students with CVI (strategytosee.com/forms/classroom-or- other-learning-enviroment-observation-for-a-student-with-cvi) • Video on infant evaluation (TSBVI website) – Students with CVI (library.tsbvi.edu/Play/7632) Description End: The next thing that I want to talk about after we do the kit is the art of observing visual behaviors. When you've been teaching as a TVI, for years, I know I can- I can evaluate a bug, just about, to see how they're doing visually. And so, being able to observe visual behaviors is a very important piece of doing a functional. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker And again, I'm going to take you to the Teaching Students with Visual Impairments website. She has a really nice segment, I just love this, on FVE evaluations. So she talks about making... environmental observations and lighting observations. And then... how to adjust lighting. She goes into how they use their glasses and other devices. And then verifying the accuracy of observations with therapists, learning things like I never ask a student can you see this. I ask them, tell me what you see or, you know, those kinds of things. How they move through the environment. Any behavioral abnormalities. Their perception of- of stimuli, et cetera. She goes on and on. It's really, really nice. So, that's one of the ones that I like. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide Debra Sewell in the publications department here at TSBVI is getting ready to publish a book on doing Functional Vision Evaluations and Learning Media Assessments. It's not quite ready. It will be ready... probably, she said late spring. She did kind of showcase it at the-- she will showcase it at TAER, I'm pretty sure. But this next form that I'm going to show you, I couldn't- I couldn't hand it out yet, because it's not published yet. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker But one of the things that you'll see in her new book is Observations for the Functional Vision Evaluation form, and what I like about this form is; it has room for you to write the activities you're observing in one column, describe any observed visual behaviors in the next, and then briefly describe conditions, and then recommendations that might enhance visual functioning. I know if I were to be filling this in, in the moment, I would come back to that recommendation section, after I had written down just what I had been watching. I want to show you another page on here. So, here are-- during the performance of near visual tasks were the following visual behaviors observed? So, she-- for example, visual attending behaviors, did the student respond to the presence of light, et cetera. So, she has gone through near, intermediate and distance, and- and the form goes on and on. It's very complete. So, when that comes out, that will be a really, really nice tool to share. [ Slide end: ] Then back to... this website, Strategies to See, and that's a Diane Sheline one. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide Let's see if this is it. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker She has her... take-- remember everything on this Strategy to See website is really going to tune into a student with... more significant disability. So she... is telling you what to look for in- in classroom or other learning environments. I just love this. And, again, this website-- I'm thinking is brand new. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide Then another observation that you might want to or- or assessment and observations, that you might want to share with your protege, wanted to let y'all know about this one, which is... TSBVI-- Lois Harrell has been a teacher of students with visual impairments, I believe in California for a long time. We use many of her materials. But Ann Rash brought her into TSBVI, just last semester, or maybe spring of last year, and so on the website, on the link that's in your PowerPoint, there's some video of Lois on the TSBVI website. Let me see if this one works. I'm going to take us to Part 3 I don't know how I'm going to make this bigger. [ Video start: ] [ Music ] Lois Harrell: First was a little girl who had some challenges. And the first section was light perception, which she had. She was able to briefly lock in on it and follow it, especially after it touched her hand and promoted awareness that it was in her space. At the same time, she has a twin brother, whose vision has not presented with problems to his pediatrician. He was able to demonstrate light perception immediately, the ability to track it in all directions; up, down, across, and remember we go across around. The little girl had skipped at midline when she went across. He just went right straight across, went down, up, was visually curious enough to stick out his hand and reach. The little girl kind of opened her hand when she knew it was in her space, contacting her hand. He was able to visually do comparative looking with the object, when it was placed on the table, he reached for it. Was able to converge and follow the object in towards his nose and he was able to follow the object when it was highlighted by the pen light or just present in his space. [ Video end: ] Chrissy:Okay. I'm going to stop this there. So this-- I think there are four little videos here, where Lois talks you through different aspects of the Functional Vision Evaluation, and what you are looking for. And then she demonstrates it. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide It's really very nice. And they're not real long videos. Each one is, you know, four or five minutes. So please share that with them. All right. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Defusing the Bomb: taking the angst out of doing an FVE/LMA Content: center graphic: Figure 1: Cartoon drawing of a round bomb with a lit fuse. Description End: So let's... try to di- diffuse the bomb. I think that doing a functional and an LMA is really very stressful for a new teacher. And one of the things that I- I started doing with my proteges-- for students that they had... been working with-- for even if it's six weeks, five weeks. I'd say, you know, you already know a lot about the student and-- let's sit down and do-- let's plan this out before you step in and work with a student. So to that end, I've developed this form called the FVE/LMA planning sheet. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker I really want to stress that this is a planning worksheet. This is not the functional, itself, and it's designed to help the protege get down what they already know. So you all already know the people who work with this student. Let's get 'em down there. You already know some medical information about them. And-- but here's the heart of this form. General observations of functional vision. So, based on your observations of this student, describe as many visual behaviors in the area of near vision as you can. And let's make it in a list format. And so the visual behavior-- you walked into the classroom and the student was reading a book. What were the characteristics of the object? It was a regular print book. And what was the working distance? They were holding it, you know, they held it about typically about six inches from their face. So this is-- or you walked into a PPCD classroom and your student was- was playing in the kitchen area. Or, you know, do they typically reach for things, do they typically find things. So-- and, again, this- this first part of this is just near. Just write down what you have seen them do. Then there's distance. Same thing. You may have-- you may have walked in and you've seen the child copying from the board, or they were using a telescope to copy from the board, or you took them on a walk someplace and they noticed a bird. Just-- it's kind of like looking back and writing down from memory, just what you remember having seen them done. Then you're going to list the assistive technology that the student is currently using, and are they efficient at it? And then general observations of learning and literacy media, and again, general, just what are they using for reading that you have seen. You know, have you noticed print size that they seem to function really the best with. What is the reading level? They may not know this stuff. They may not know it at all, that's okay. This is just to try to get down what you know, in writing. So then, looking at the information that you've written down, you've collected, list three educational considerations that you would have for this student. [ Slide end: ] Educational considerations tends to be a distinction that you need to go over with your protege, how is that different from a recommendation? And, so that's language that you want them to get really good at. [ Screen start: ] previous screen Now list at least four recommendations you would make for this student's program. Specifically, areas of instruction as these relate to the compensatory skills, et cetera. It lists- lists the Expanded Core Curriculum. Then, what's your next step? What's missing? What information do you need to collect? Jot your thoughts down here. It might be I- I need an acuity, you know, I need to see if he can-- if he's really looking at those... exponents in the geometry book, or I need to see if he can- if he can go through the cafeteria line, I need to see what's going on in PE. So, you write those there, and then using your FVE and LMA templates, build on this information, and when you go in with the student, you are more focused. [ Slide end: ] So anyway, this is just a little planning worksheet that I used to use with my proteges, and it worked very well. And it did diffuse that anxiety of stepping in and doing a functional. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Components of an FVE Content: • Components of the Functional Vision Assessment: Study Notes (handout based on Looking to Learn, AFB Press) • The Functional Vision Evaluation “How To” Chart (TSBVI publication pending) Description End: The components of a Functional Vision Evaluation are pretty standard, but there's so many different forms out there. So I'm going to show you something I like. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker This is one of your handouts. And it's based on the book "Looking to Learn"-- I'll show you that in a minute. This is what... was designed to be used I think in QPVI, Quality Programs for Students with Visual Impairment, but again it really takes what's in the Looking to Learn book, and kind of divides it out. Just know in other states, instead of FVEs, they say FVA, Functional Vision Assessment, and in Texas we use Functional Vision Evaluation, FVE. We used to use FVA. So, the way this is designed you have the component, look at the appearance of the eyes and the presence of corrective lenses, and it has a description of what you are looking for, and why it's tested, how to test it, and then your observation results. So it goes through those major components, that will be very familiar to you mentors, the appearance of the eyes, the visual reflexes, the reception and perception of visual stimuli, muscle balance, eye preference, oculomotor, field of vision, color vision. So, this is one of those when I showed you the kit and I said, "I will take information from boxes and cut them out, and put them on a card, and stick that card in a baggy, and put the materials needed." That's an example of what I'm talking about, is cut those four boxes out and, you know, this is what you are actually going to be doing here, in this box here, match yarn samples or paint clips. Going on, it does depth perception, figure ground, contrast, visual acuity, current-- so this is a really nice form to show your protege, to use with your protege, when they are setting up their Functional Vision Evaluation. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker In the TSBVI book that's going to be coming out, Debra has this "How to" chart. And, again just similar to the form that I just showed you, there's the test item and why it's important, how you're going to test it, atypical responses, that's different, and then possible educational implications and recommendations. I love this how-to chart. Just love it. So, it's a work in progress. It's not ready yet. I know that you are going to be chomping at the bit to get this thing. But it should be out late spring. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Interviewing Others Content: • Teaching Visually Impaired website (www.teachingvisuallyimpaired.com/interviews.html) • Strategy to See (CVI) website • Parent Interview (strategytosee.com/forms/interview-form-parent-of-a-student- with-cvi/) • Teacher Interview (strategytosee.com/forms/interview-form-teacher-of-a-student- with-cvi/) Description End Another component of the functional is interviewing other people. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker And-- The Teaching Visually Impaired website, she has, Carmen Willings has a section on interviews. And... she- she explains, over here on the right, why it's important and what you're doing, but she also has the forms. And when you click on any of these links, it takes you directly to a nice form. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker And then, the Strategy to See website, because the interview process is a little different for parents of... children with Cortical Visual Impairment, there is her form there for interviewing a parent and others. She goes on. I mean, on both of them, have a parent interview, and a teacher interview. This is Diane's teacher interview form. So it's for a teacher, or a paraprofessional, or a nurse of a student with CVI. I just love it. It's wonderful. [ Slide end: ] It's also important to impress upon the protege that you-- for students who are- are communicating, you know, include an interview... for... those students, as well. Chapter 5. Evaluation Templates Let's talk, a bit, about templates. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Evaluation Templates – a must have for the novice! Content: Infants • Functional Vision Assessment and Developmentally Appropriate Learning Media Assessment - to be posted on TSBVI website • PAIVI - APH • Developmental Vision Screening Checklist Description End: Evaluation templates. I know that you mentors have been doing functionals for a long time, and you can step into any situation, and just kind of pick it up and... start doing everything we're talking about; you're observing, you know where you need to start, you know where you're going, you know how to collect information. You have that construct in your head after years of experience. [ Slide end: ] The protege doesn't and even when they go to observe you, if they are lucky enough to get to observe you do a functional, and... it's- it's a wonderful experience, but it's enriched by having something that they can follow. Something visual. And that's going to be a template. And so if you- if you're demonstrating how to do a functional, please use a template with them, or show them a template you used to use, or you like to use, and say, you know, "Basically I'm following this." And ask them to take notes on a template, for you, or just on a pad, and then afterwards, go through, once again, that structure of those components of the Functional Vision Evaluation and LMA. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide You know, I used to think there weren't millions of templates, but there actually... are not. They do have a template they get from the university, both SFA and Texas Tech are going to give them a template. That's a good place to start. That's a good place to look at. So, I'm going to just share a few of them with you. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker One of the ones that I like, I don't know if you have heard of the PAIVI, and that's Parents and Infants with Visual Impairments. The PAIVI is very old, and it's an American Printing House for the Blind product. And it has been-- it's in its second edition now, updated, and it's a wonderful resource for teachers who are working with- with infants, with a visual impairment. And in the PAIVI there's a DVD at the back, and it has these forms in it. And what I really like is the Developmental Vision Screening Checklist. And it's so user friendly. And I'm just going to kind of scroll through. And here you see, once again, now for an infant it has the sequence of development for vision, so it's written-- you know, for younger, a much younger student. But it has those FVE components, like we talked about, and then observation, suggestions. Then you do yes, no, et cetera. And it goes on by months, so sequence of development. So that's- that's the PAIVI. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker This one here was actually from a project from Chapel Hill. It is an assessment report template and-- the Chapel Hill was a huge grant that produced many, many products for working with young children with visual impairments. And this- this was one of them. However, once the grant played out, all of these forms were lost. They are not on- on their website. There is no website anymore. So they have allowed TSBVI to re-post these- these forms. They're not done yet, but they will be, and there's a nice- another nice little infant assessment report template. So, It is the- it is the template for collecting information and it is the template for... writing a report. So I wanted to show you those two. [ Screen end: ] As you may not know, when I do a webinar, you want anything, just email me, and I will send it to you. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Evaluation Templates – a must have for the novice! Content: School Age • Miami-Dade Functional Vision and Learning Media Assessments – FVLMA - for Students with Visual Impairments (forms.dadeschools.net/webpdf/3193.pdf) Supporting the Novice TVI in Conducting the FVE/LMA – January 19, 2016 4 • FVELMA Template (TSBVI + Chrissy) These should be used in conjunction with The Functional Vision Evaluation “How To” Chart Description End: For school‑aged children, there is this new form, online, that is from the Miami‑Dade County Public Schools. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker For those of you who know Nancy Tell, my sister, who does QPVI, her fingerprint is all over this. What's different about this, it's a PDF form. You can fill it in. It's got fillable fields, and then you print it out. I don't think you can save. That's the problem with it. I don't think you can save what you have filled in. But, you have the appearance of the eyes, and then needs noted, you fill that in, and accommodations or instructional recommendations, right there. She has you do that after every single component of that Functional Vision Evaluation. I think that's kind of interesting. And then some of them have accommodations, instructions and recommendations. Because she- she works with new teachers in Miami‑Dade, and they wanted them to- to think in terms of, "Okay, if this, then what?" You know, "What does that mean?" And so they were kind of structuring them. I think that's not really a bad idea. It's different, so I wanted to show you- show it to you. And, again, that webiste is on the PowerPoint. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide Somebody wrote, Liz, when I taught in Houston, we developed our own template. That's a really good point. And- and I want to also say that many of your regions have excellent templates. Many of them do. Region 10 has one. [ Slide end: ] If you don't have something that you've developed in your district, check with your Education Service Center V-I professionals, because they've got some good- they've got some really good ones, too. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker I have done a little template that-- I don't know if I've put it in your group of handouts-- but it is kind of a combination template, and to gather information, and report format. And all I really did is [ Laughter ] color code it, so that it's easy to follow. So, you've got your eligibility statement, your medical history, and under that you're looking at visual, auditory, other medical, your general observations, your evaluation tools and procedures, the Functional Vision Evaluation results, and those are all listed out. These are also familiar to those of you who have been doing this for years. And then, your FVE summary, FVE recommendations, and then goes into the LMA. [ Screen end: ] So, you know, for a template like this, a nice companion to this, for the protege, is to either use that "How-to" chart, or the other one that I showed you that... was-- that Nancy Tell and Christine Cowan had written, based on-- I'm going to show you it now, because I'm alive, in this book, Looking to Learn. And this has a whole chapter written by Tanni Anthony on conducting a Functional Vision Evaluation. Very nice. I like everything that Tanni writes. There are kits that you can get from APH. The Toad is one of them, the Tadpole for younger students. There's the FVE/LMA kit, and those are very nice. They are very nice kits. And they've got lots of materials in them. I think the FVE/LMA is really just a notebook, but it has some nice templates in it, and checklists in it, for both the FVA, FVE and the LMA. And, also, the EEC. And they are APH, which is a bonus. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Most FVE template have: Content: • Eligibility Statement • Medical History • General • Visual • Evaluation Tools & Procedures • Teacher/Parent/Student Interviews • Observation Summaries in a Variety of Settings • Visual Acuity • Visual Reflexes/Reactions Description End: Okay. Basically, a functional template has-- and I just wrote it here to have it on a PowerPoint-- the eligibility statement, medical history, et cetera. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Most LMA template have: Content: • Use of Sensory Channels • Learning Media • Performance with Assistive Technology • Literacy Performance and Media • Reading • Writing • Statement of Need for Braille, if indicated (w/ strengths/needs) • Recommendations related to learning/literacy Description End: Let's go to the next slide that keeps going because I want to get to-- I want to get to the LMA template. Most LMA templates have use of sensory channels, learning media, performance with assistive technology, literacy performance and media in reading and writing, the statement of need for Braille, if indicated with strengths and needs and recommendations. [ Slide end: ] The templates are actually in the Koenig and Holbrook LMA book, the turquoise one with the turquoise spine. And... for lower functioning students a really great way to collect LMA information is using the APH sensory learning kit. And then the- the PAIVI, for infants, also is a good one for LMA information, as well. Then for reading- for reading I use the Jeri Johns, which I showed you earlier. And then getting reports from-- on reading and writing from classroom teachers. Chapter 6. Writing the Report [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Writing the Report Content: Supporting the Novice TVI in Conducting the FVE/LMA – January 19, 2016 5 For report components for both the FVE and LMA, see section titled “Writing the Report”, in TSBVI publication (to be published) It helps them to see report samples • Arizona samples (www.coe.arizona.edu/sites/default/files/FVA%20Report%20Samples_0.pdf) • Infant sample • Email Chrissy Cowan for more samples Description End: Now, I'm going to talk about writing the report. The TSBVI publication, that I talked about, had a section on writing the report, so the handout that I showed you earlier, it has the template, but it also goes right into writing the report, and it gives you the structure for the report. So that's- that's going to be coming out, but it's really nice. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker There are some examples online for Arizona, and when you go to that website, you see four sample reports and it tells you what the samples are. A variety of eye conditions, and it explains the student, and it explains the etiology. So, then when you continue on to these, there's sample 1, there's this lovely report, and so those are really, really lovely samples to have. Different states have different criteria for their functionals, so that's going to be a little bit different, but- but basically they're very similar. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide I have loads of reports, that I didn't want to put online, but if you would like some, I have a lot of functionals that I've cleaned up, so that student names don't show, that I've collected over the years. And I also have DNQs. I have a lot of DNQ reports, or a handful of them. And so that... would be something that I would be willing to send you. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker Now what I'm showing you on my screen is, again, that Chapel Hill program has a sample of an FVA report for an infant, and... the infant reports look a little bit different. And this- this report-- I'm- I'm-- is probably written by Tanni Anthony, Tanni Anthony was one of the people that contributed to this- this program. So, that infant sample, I'll be happy to send it to you, I just cannot post it on the website, yet, until it is posted. [ Screen end: ] So-- just if you would like some reports, please email me. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Providing Constructive Feedback Content: • E.A. Rubric: Essential Assessments for Children Who are Blind or Visually Impaired - “Quality Rubric” sections (http://earubric.com/) • Adding your comments to their report • ALWAYS review their reports before they are submitted to anyone else! Description End: Chapter 7. Providing Constructive Feedback Okay. The next thing I would like to talk to you about is providing constructive feedback. Adding your comments to their reports. I do that very candidly. You know, you have to-- you have to be pretty open with your comments, I think, because this is a work in- in progress, and the functional vision, LMA ,and now EEC evaluation, is so important, it's a legal document. [ Slide end: ] And I would hope that the proteges never turn anything into an ARD committee, before you have looked at it. For as many reports as you can for the-- during the first year, and during the second year. I know I pass mine off to other people to say, "Would you just, you know, kind of review this and see if I've left anything out?" [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker So this is an example of what I'm talking about. I'll have-- they'll send me their functional and if you- if you are doing this via email, make sure student name isn't showing-- I mean last name, but I'll simply write in red, and write my- write my comments. For this particular-- this is a real one-- for this particular person, I was there, and I was writing down things, as well. So, I was able to fill in more information. But you certainly do want to look at the report, and write in-- or you write your questions, did you get information on this? So, that's just one way to do it. [ Slide start: ] Repeat previous slide One of the websites that I'm-- that I have is-- there's something called the E-A rubric. [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker The EA rubric is something we share with the mentors during mentor training. And it is designed around the functional vision... and LMA, and there's a lot of things on this rubric, but when you go to any one of the age groups at the top, it has-- it has kind of a-- it's a rubric to help you evaluate a functional. I think that you have to have a pretty strong relationship with a- with a protege, to get to this level. Unless you have, you know-- so that- so that they are comfortable with you saying, "Well, it's got this, but it doesn't have this," you know, and you go through these... categories. So, does it have a parent-caregiver attitude? You get a four, if you have all of these things. You get a three, if you got just this. So, you know, I don't know how- how this works for your style. I don't think it would work for my style. I like the one where they send me the report and I kind of go through it and say, "Consider this, consider this, consider this." [ Screen end: ] But for you to look at something that helps remind of, "Well these are the components that need to be in a functional, and so let's see if yours are there." [ Screen start: ] Described by speaker Actually, what's nice about this rubric, when you go to the content rubric, I went to that over here, it has the key component of the functional, and then it tells you, you know, some- some things to do, and then at the bottom it has actual tools, down here that you can click on. And it might have those interview tools or whatever. So, I couldn't finish this without showing you that. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Closing Thoughts Content: My email address. (cowanc@tsbvi.edu) • If you have a template you really like, please send it to me • If you want me to send you bunches of sample reports, please email me Description End: Now, some closing thoughts. If you have a template, you really like, could you please send it to me? I like to collect these things. And, also, if you-- remember if you want me to send you bunches of sample reports, please email me, and... on the screen is my email address. If some things have been coming up in this that I didn't address, please email me, and I will be happy to do that. I want to thank you for joining today, in this first mentor series. If there are other kinds of things that you would like me to cover, let me know, because these webinars are cool. [Title] Read by narrator Narrator: Supporting the Novice TVI in Conducting the FVE and LMA, January 19th, 2016. Developed for Texas School for Blind & Visually Impaired Outreach Programs. [Silence] [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. Fade to black.