What is CVI? The film

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Transcript

Seeing happens in the brain

This is an eye. Light comes in, and the eye turns it into a signal. But the eye does not see. The brain does. The signal travels to the back of the brain. There, the brain builds the picture. Now imagine the eye works fine, but the brain has trouble building the picture. That is CVI: cortical, or cerebral, visual impairment. It starts in the brain, not the eyes. In the United States, it is a leading cause of vision loss in children. Glasses alone cannot fix it, because the problem is in the brain.

Meet Maya

This is Maya. She is eight, and she has CVI. No film can show exactly what she sees. CVI is different for every person. These scenes come from how people with CVI describe their own vision.

Clutter

Breakfast. Her red cup is on the table. You found it right away. For Maya, a busy scene does not split into separate objects. She cannot tell where one thing ends and the next begins. She knows the cup is there. She just cannot find it. Now clear the table. A plain mat. One cup. There it is.

One thing at a time

Maya often sees just one thing at a time. When she looks at the ball, the dog is gone. When she looks at the dog, the ball is gone. You take in the whole park at a glance. She has to build it piece by piece.

Faces

School pickup. A crowd of grown-ups waits at the gate. For many people with CVI, faces are hard to read. In a crowd, they all look alike. Her mom is right there. Maya walks past her. Mom: Maya! Over here. It’s Mom. She knows her mom by her voice, and by her bright yellow coat. She is not being rude. She cannot tell who you are.

The lower part of the picture

Walking home. For Maya, like some people with CVI, the lower half of the picture is missing. It is not dark down there. It is just not there. She cannot see her feet. She cannot see the ground, or anything on it. The curb is there. Then it is gone. People call her clumsy. She is not. The ground disappeared.

Depth

Depth is hard too. For some people with CVI, the world can seem flat, like a picture. Stairs can look like stripes on the floor. A shadow on the path can look like a hole. So every step is a guess.

Seeing takes time

Seeing also takes time. A friend throws a ball. Maya’s brain needs extra time to work out what is coming. By then, the ball has already landed.

Noise

Lunch time. The cafeteria is loud. Maya’s brain cannot handle all that noise and the picture at the same time. As the sound goes up, her vision fades out. So she looks away, or she closes her eyes. It is not bad behavior. It is how she copes.

Tiredness

All of this takes enormous effort. By the afternoon, Maya is worn out, and her vision gets worse. Something she could see yesterday, she may not see today. That does not mean she is not trying.

What helps

Here is the good news. Small changes help a lot. Clear the clutter. Show one thing at a time. Say your name when you say hello. Give her extra time. Keep it quiet. Mark steps and edges with bright color. And when she says she cannot see it, believe her.

In closing

Many children with CVI are not diagnosed. Their eye tests can look normal. Their eyes can be healthy. Their world still does not make sense. Now you know what to look for.