U.M. Ek

Tomteboda Resource Center;
Solna and Department of Psychology;
University of Stockholm,
Sweden.

In the Swedish population of visually impaired children cerebral visual impairment CVI is the diagnosis in almost l/4 of the children. In the 1990s prematurely born children with CVI were seen more frequently at TRC. I will focus on children with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL). Both in academic work and in everyday living these children are much more visually disabled than could be expected from their visual acuity and intellectual capacity. Their visual-spatial and visual-motor deficits influence their daily life in almost every respect. Learning to read is difficult for such children and they face huge difficulties in the daily work at school. To solve the various perceptual tasks that make up the surrounding world, are also demanding tasks for children with cerebral visual impairment. Development of cognitive functions and educational aspects are discussed as well as assessment techniques.