Meet Cory
Case Study - Low Vision
(Cone/Rod Dystrophy with Hyperopia and Astigmatism)
Cory is a quiet, imaginative, and personable 4th grade student who is quick to laugh at a joke or crack a joke himself. Cory’s low vision diagnosis is cone/rod dystrophy (for sharp visual acuity, night vision, and color vision) with hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism. His tracking skills are poor, and he appears to have peripheral field deficits on both sides. Cory may also have difficulty with tasks requiring depth perception. He is learning to manage his low vision in and out of the classroom. While Cory appears to understand information presented in stories and informational text, he has difficulty selecting and organizing the main points and presenting the information in a sequential format. Additionally, Cory has a tendency to talk off topic, discussing unrelated information.
When given a research assignment, Cory will often sit, helplessly until someone comes to help him. This encourages a learned helplessness that will not promote an independent teen or adult.
Cory is using his gross motor skills to access his school environment for sitting, walking, and stairs nicely at this time. He uses a long, white cane while traveling through his environment, for safety and independence. He is familiar with his present school environment and is more consistent with using his visual scanning skills in indoor and outdoor areas. He is using familiar visual landmarks to travel on the sidewalks on school grounds, as well as nearby residential neighborhoods with an instructor. He has been introduced to crossing familiar driveways and residential streets with curbs (depth perception) using an all-clear method with an instructor.
What They Decided
Cory’s teachers ensure that he is given plenty of unobstructed space in the classroom for setting up his camera/magnifier. He is able to zoom in to the whiteboard and Promethean board, for whole-class instruction, or enlarge the text in the book on his desk. The Tech Department has made sure there are several computers loaded with ZoomText software...the computer lab, a desktop in his classroom, as well as a laptop. Cory also has access to an iPad and has been trained in the use of the iOS accessibility features.
Resources
