Cerebral Visual Impairment

This 5-day online course is available to professional learning students, teachers, practitioners, and those who are interested in learning more about Cerebral Visual Impairment in children.

Course overview

This online course will outline cerebral visual impairment (CVI) in children. It will focus on brain injury as well as other factors that may lead to CVI. It will examine the type of visual loss children have with CVI and the difference between CVI and ocular eye damage.

The course will introduce and explore the complex relationship between visual impairment and cerebral visual impairment (CVI) and will outline the visual difficulties that children have with CVI. It will also explore the concurrent additional disabilities many children with CVI have. 

You will be asked to complete some tasks and quizzes during the course. There will also be an opportunity to develop a case study which will be helpful to your practice.

On completion of this course, you will be able to:

  • demonstrate knowledge and critical awareness of cerebral visual impairment and associated disabilities
  • evaluate knowledge and critical appraisal of current recommendations for implementing practice for children with CVI
  • demonstrate an awareness of current national and international non-medical assessment processes for children with CVI
  • present a range of practical skills and learning/pedagogical methods for children with CVI
  • communicate, using appropriate methods, to a range of audiences with different levels of knowledge and expertise

Who this course is for

This course will be of interest if you:

  • are a teaching assistant and work with children with a formal or suspect diagnosis of CVI
  • are a mainstream teacher who wants to know more about CVI 
  • are a therapist working with children with CVI
  • are from a charity and want to learn more about CVI 
  • want to collaborate with teachers of learners with visual impairment in supporting children with CVI 
  • want to know about CVI

Course delivery

New delivery dates TBC

Students can access recorded lectures and other online materials as well as University library materials via visiting student membership status. They will also have the opportunity to engage in online discussion forums.

There will be synchronous online sessions throughout the day sessions. Students become part of an online community which offers structured academic support to engage in and critically reflect on real-world community engagement activities.

Students are expected to watch assigned videos and complete readings in between sessions.

Please note: participants will not receive credits for this course but those who have engaged actively with the online course will receive a certificate of completion which can be used to evidence professional learning. This course is delivered at masters level (SCQF level 11) and can be completed as a Professional Learning course. 

Time commitment

The whole course should take approximately 100 hours to cover, including the 5 full days and the time spent reading.

Assessment

There is no assessment for participants who enrol on the course via Professional Learning. If you have actively engaged with the online course, you will receive a certificate of completion which can be used to evidence professional learning.

Course tutor

The course will be coordinated and taught by Professor John Ravenscroft. Prof Ravenscroft is Chair of Childhood Visual Impairment, Head and Director of the Scottish Sensory Centre and Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Visual Impairment. 

Read Professor John Ravenscroft's biography

Scottish Sensory Centre website

Course fee

The course fee is £735. 

There is a 20% discount offered to University of Edinburgh employees, and a 10% discount offered to University of Edinburgh alumni.

Language requirements

Students whose first language is not English must show evidence of their English language competence.

Booking 

We are unsure whether we will run this course again but if you would like to receive information about a future CVI course, please fill in the form below:

Note of interest

If you have any inquiries regarding this course please email us at:

professionallearning@ed.ac.uk