AAC & CVI: Beyond Red and Yellow
Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment is the leading cause of visual impairment in young children, and many also need AAC. This session uses Roman-Lantzy's 10 visual characteristics and the CVI Range to help SLPs spot red flags, know when to refer, and match AAC to each CVI phase. Learn how color, latency, complexity, visual fields and distance should shape AAC device selection, layout and teaching.
Speakers
Debbie Perry has been practicing since 2006 and owns a private practice in Northern Virginia. She is an AAC specialist with extensive experience supporting children, families, caregivers, and professionals across school, private practice, and community settings. She has a strong focus on working with people with multiple and complex disabilities, with special focus in Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) and deafblindness, and how these learners can access AAC and other assistive technologies. In addition to her clinical work, Debbie teaches courses on AAC and CVI and provides coaching to caregivers and professionals on integrating AAC use across environments including schools, homes, and community. She is passionate about building inclusive, functional communication systems that empower children and their families and loves collaborating with everyone on a child's team.
Disclosure: Debbie Perry is receiving payment for this course. She also owns a private practice.
Dr. Sandra Newcomb retired from the University of Maryland, College Park as an Assistant Research Professor. She has 30+ years of experience teaching infants and toddlers with disabilities, including 12 years providing technical assistance to young children with deaf-blindness, their families and service providers. In addition, she has taught a number of college courses including courses on assessment and intervention for children with CVI. Dr. Newcomb earned her Ph.D. at the University of Maryland in 2009 and holds certification in Early Childhood Special Education and in Visual Impairment. Her dissertation topic was reliability of The CVI Range. In addition to her work with children and families, Dr. Newcomb coordinated a number of grants at the University of Maryland including family support projects focused on young children with disabilities and their families and personnel preparation grants in early intervention. Dr. Newcomb is currently self-employed.
Disclosure: Dr. Sandra Newcomb is receiving payment for this course. She also owns a private practice.
Built for you
Who this course is for
Every minute is written for working clinicians, educators, and families. You walk away with real-world tools to try with your next learner, not abstract theory.
Speech-Language Pathologists
Educators
AAC Teams
Communication Partners
After this course
What you’ll walk away with.
You leave with concrete skills and frameworks you can apply in your next session, classroom, or family visit, not just ideas to think about later.
Earn your CEUs
Attend the full course and pass the post-session assessment at 80% or higher. Your 0.1 ASHA CEUs are reported to ASHA when you opt in on the assessment.
- 01
You’ll be able to
Describe the 10 unique visual characteristics of children with cortical visual impairment.
- 02
You’ll be able to
Identify at least 3 red flags for CVI that may appear during AAC assessment or intervention, and state when to refer for a functional vision assessment.
- 03
You’ll be able to
Identify at least 5 ways CVI visual characteristics affect the selection, layout and presentation of an AAC system.
The full 1 hour
Your learning path.
- 1
Introduction, disclosures, course objectives
0-5 MINUTES - 2
What is CVI?
5-15 MINUTES - 3
The SLP and CVI
15-22 MINUTES - 4
AAC and CVI Phase I
22-30 MINUTES - 5
AAC and CVI Phase II
30-38 MINUTES - 6
Late Phase II
38-45 MINUTES - 7
CVI Characteristics and AAC Design
45-55 MINUTES - 8
Wrap-Up: Questions, session evaluation
55-60 MINUTES
Earn ASHA CEUs in three steps
Free courses, ASHA CEUs when you opt in.
Register & attend
Register in under a minute and join us live.
Pass the assessment
Complete the short post-course assessment with 80% or higher to confirm mastery.
CEUs reported to ASHA
Choose to be reported on the assessment and your 0.1 ASHA CEUs are filed to ASHA for you. No paperwork, no chasing certificates.
Ready when you are
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