CP AND VISUAL

IMPAIRMENTS
Dominique Jonker
Thembalethu Nkosi
Zoleka Mbeje
WHAT IS VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS?
o Any kind of vision loss that affects sight, either partial vision loss or full vision loss (blindness)
o Common types of vision problems in children:
1. Blurred vision
- Astigmatism: Irregular shape of cornea
- Nearsighted: See clearly up close, blurry in the distance
- Far sighted: See clearly from a distance, blurry up close
2. Crossed eyes
- Esotropia: One or both eyes turned inward towards the nose
- Exotropia: One or both eyes turned outwards
- Hypertropia: One or both eyes turned up
- Hypotropia: One or both eyes turned down
3. Lazy eyes
- Amblyopia: Eyes not working together; brain ignores visual information from one eye
VISION AND NORMAL
DEVELOPMENT
o Children with visual problems are prone to experiencing
developmental delays in:
1. Gross motor development – Crawling, sitting, walking and
running
2. Fine motor development – Using hands to play with toys
3. Cognitive development – Memory, concentration, following
instructions
4. Communication and language development – Using words to
form sentences
5. Social skills – Communicating with friends or caregivers
6. Play skills – Engaging in play with toys, communicating with
friends
7. Activities of daily living – Become dependent on caregiver for
tasks like dressing, feeding, toileting, bathing
DID YOU KNOW?

75% - 90% of children

diagnosed with CP
have a visual
impairment
TREATMENT GOALS
Therapy combined with home programs
STEP 1: PREPARATION
o See an eye specialist
o Play should take place in a quiet area to prevent
distractions
o Ensure good lighting (not too much if the child is
sensitive to light)
o Perform a good assessment to know what exactly
your child is experiencing problems with
o Involve caregivers as much as possible – they see
the child the most and know the child best
STEP 2: POSITIONING
o The child’s body should be supported in a way that
allows him/her to focus on the visual stimuli
o Supported sitting is a good position that allows for
engagement in visual play
o Different positions can be tried as the child
progresses (weightbearing on elbows in prone)
STEP 3: INTRODUCTION OF
VISUAL STIMULI
o Caregivers know best what type of toys their child
prefers to interact with
o The following may assist in gaining the child’s
attention:
1. Bright colors
2. Contrast
3. Reflective objects
4. Using light to illuminate objects
5. Crowding of toys
CHARACTERISTICS OF TOYS FOR
VISUAL STIMULATION

CONTRAST BRIGHT REFLECTIVE USING LIGHT CROWDING OF

COLOURS OBJECTS TOYS
CONSIDERATIONS IN PLAY
1. Give the child time to process and respond to the
visual stimulus – caregivers should not think the child
has lost interest
2. Use movement (locating visual stimulus)
3. Use verbal stimulation to help with locating and
identifying objects
4. Start with shorter sessions at a time and work your
way up to prevent overstimulation and agitation
5. Caregiver education and compliance to home
programs is VERY important!
HOME PROGRAMS AND EDUCATION
 Use guidelines as described above
 Incorporate different senses during activities of
daily living (touch, hearing, smell, taste)
 Use a calm and quiet environment – no TV or radio
 Prepare the child for positioning and play – they
don’t know what to expect if they cannot see what
is coming
 Verbal reassurance of every action the caregiver is
doing is important
NEXT DATES AVAILABLE
FOR THE EYE NURSE

o Daggakraal:
o Perdekop:
o Amersfoort:
o Wakkerstroom:
o Volskrust:
THANK YOU
QUESTIONS?