Why Visual Performance Matters: Foundations for Occupational Therapy Practice — participation guide

The diagnosis belongs to medicine. The functional limitation belongs to you. This module is about knowing which eye and brain conditions may be sitting underneath what you are watching, so you can name the functional problem accurately instead of guessing at a cause.

• How to use this module
• Naming the direction — vocabulary, not diagnosis

• The diagnosis names the mechanism; the functional limitation names the OT target. Document the second, not the first.
• CVI is brain-based and often pairs with a normal eye exam; ONH, albinism, nystagmus, strabismus, amblyopia, ROP, RP, cataract, and refractive/vergence disorders change the sensory floor.
• Each condition maps to functional problems OT treats: print size, contrast, working distance, lighting, scanning, endurance, and array complexity.
• OT observation cannot rule an eye condition in or out — "see this and refer" is the wrong model; describe function and recommend an exam when none is documented.
• A short red-flag list (sudden vision loss, pain, new diplopia, unequal pupils, new turn after age 5, trauma, halos/flashes) still warrants prompt medical eye care.

A second-grade student with a known history of prematurity looks away from the smart board, prefers bright yellow objects, and needs repeated prompts to look at a visual target. Which conditions could plausibly sit underneath this picture, and how would you write the functional limitation you are going to treat?

Name three conditions in this module that are commonly missed on a school vision screen, and explain why each one is missed.

Take two students on your caseload with a documented eye diagnosis. For each, write the diagnosis on the left and the two functional limitations you are actually treating on the right.