>>Lynne: We asked Brandon's team of educators and his foster family to give us information regarding Brandon's visual behaviors.  At that time, Brandon's foster family did not know him nearly as well, so they were unsure of how to answer some of the questions.  They did not have a great deal of familiarity with CVI and its characteristics.  We will skip over questions that do not contain any data for our data collection sheet unless they bring up interesting questions regarding visual behaviors.  We recorded our remarks on the part of the data collection sheet marked "Interview Information."  You can look at the parent interview guide on page 41 Appendix 4.A in Roman's book to help you interpret what the questions are getting at.

>>Sara: Question 1 asks what to do to get Brandon interested in something.  His family says to put the item in his hand to hold, which places no demands on vision, but his classroom staff says that among other things, they shake it, or put it on a light box and move it.  So on the interview data collection sheet, we made a note of that in the "need for movement" and in the "light" rows.

Question 2 asks about knowing how Brandon sees something.  Answers include head orientation toward the object and a slow reach, usually with a light box or with art.  Since we don't know the visual qualities of the art, we can only mark this one in the row for "light" in that he orients his head towards the light box.

>>Lynne: Question 3 asks about Brandon having a favorite side or head position.  His family said his right side is his favorite side.  We observed that too, in that he uses the right side of his body and his right hand more frequently.  We may suspect that Brandon would prefer his right eye as well, but we know that he has retinal detachment in the right eye.  His classroom staff  were more tuned-in to vision-related behaviors, and they noticed that he uses his left side for viewing, and they also said his head was "slumped".  This might mean that he has an upper field preference.  At any rate, he definitely has a left field preference, which we marked in the row labeled "Field preferences".

Question 4 asked about searching for objects visually vs. tactually, and it was noted that he prefers finding things by touching and does not "usually" find them by looking alone.  That would lead us to wonder what the environment is like on those rare occasions when he is able to find things visually.

>>Sara: Question 6 asks about fields: where do you hold things when presenting visually.  The answer also alludes to distance viewing.  School staff reported "center, to left side within 1 foot range" which we recorded in the row called "Field Preferences" as "center left" and in the row called "Distance Viewing" as "within 1 foot". 

Question 8 asks about what doctors have said about Brandon's vision.  The family's answer is telling: totally blind, "but I don't think so."  That means that they do see visual behaviors at home.

>>Lynne: Question 9 asks about when Brandon likes to look at things.  School staff said he will look at things that are on the light board and will look when he hears sounds, which seems to mean he alerts to sounds by turning his head.  We recorded this response in the row called "Light".

Question 10 asks about what colors Brandon prefers to look at.  Instructional staff said "maybe red".  We recorded the response in the row called "Color."

>>Sara: Question 12 asks about Brandon's response to ceiling fans and lights.  His family noticed that he looks up towards these things.  We recorded this information in the row called "Need for Movement" and in the row called "Light".

Question 13 asks about what Brandon does when he's looking at something, or how he positions his head.  The school staff answered that he puts his face on things, which we recorded in the row called "Distance."

>>Lynne: Question 14 asks whether Brandon notices things that move faster than he notices things that don't move.  His family said he notices things that move.  We recorded that answer in the row called "Need for Movement".

Question 16 asks again about color preference.  School staff again tentatively said "red" which we recorded in the row called "Color".

>>Sara: Question 18 asks about Brandon's head position while reaching.  His family said "straight".  We recorded this information in "Field Preferences" and in "Visually Guided Reach."

Question 19 asks about what Brandon does in response to new things.  School staff said he reaches out to touch them.  We recorded that response in the row called "Visual Novelty" and in the row called "Visually Guided Reach."

Question 20 asks about positioning Brandon (or items) so that he can see them best.  School staff said left side positioning and light as helpers, so we recorded their response in the row called "Field Preferences" and in the row called "Light."