Cortical Visual Impairment

The United States has many minority groups that face oppression. In the media today, most of the minority issues that are highlighted involve the LGBTQ community, women, and racial minorities. Differently-abled people are rarely given the space to share with the world how they see it. This literature review will discuss terms related to visual impairment, legislative measures taken in the United States to assist those with severe visual impairments, and the oppression and discrimination those who are visually impaired face.

The physical development of a baby in its first six months of life shows limited range of movement but the beginnings of an ability to respond to stimulus around them. They show their reaction to people, sounds and movement by turning their head toward whatever attracts their attention. They will watch an adult’s face whilst feeding, but have already begun to shows signs of recognition as they will smile when familiar people are around them either because they can see them

babies and the effects on their eyes. There is a fine line walking when protecting the function

How do we know infants can see at birth? They can’t tell us. For this we depend on clues such as eye movement, light sensitivity and the appearance of the eye. Though an infant 's vision is present at birth the strength of their vision is far from mature. However, vision develops rapidly in infants, going from only being able to focus on images 4 to 30 inches away to a rapid ability to see details and shape (Berger, 2014). By 3 months these same infants with immature ability can see patterns color and motion. Surveys and medical research are regularly used to develop a better understanding of infant development.

0-2 years: From the birth to three months babies have the ability to focus on objects up to few inches away from themselves. Up to six months they will begin to develop their co-ordination, enjoy bright colours and shiny things.

VL:VM activation ratio displayed a significant relationship with VM activation delay in PFP subjects classified as maltrackers (Fig. 2). There were no correlations between VL:VM activation

For this technique, two objects or patterns are simultaneously shown to an infant. If the infant looks at one of the objects longer than the other, the researcher can infer that the baby is able to discriminate between them and has a preference of one over the other. Habituation is another method that is used to study sensory and perceptual development in infants. For this procedure, a researcher presents an infant with a particular stimulus until the infant’s response to it decreases. Then a new stimulus is presented. If the infant’s response to it increases, the researcher can then conclude that the baby can distinguish the new from the old

The equipment used consisted of a 60 Hz monitor on a 19 – inch computer screen. The program for the test ran on a viglen Pentium 4.30 GHZ. To present the stimuli’s four

374, para. 3). According to John Collins Harvey, a senior research scholar and professor emeritus of medicine at Georgetown University, feeding tubes should be removed from patients in PVS because there is no hope for recovery. Harvey explains that the cerebral cortex the area of the brain that controls conscious thought, language, and sensory perception has been irreparably damaged by a lack of oxygen (Harvey, 2004). However, recent studies on DOC have revealed the difficulty of diagnosing PVS, especially because a few PVS patients recovered consciousness and demonstrated awareness as a result of drug therapies and functional imaging studies (Fisher & Appelbaum, 2010). Obviously, these patients were not in PVS, an irreversible condition. The awakening of persons after the administration of specific medications brings attention to the possibility that VS is often over diagnosed (Sara & Pistoia, 2010). “The differential diagnosis of disorders of consciousness is challenging. The rate of misdiagnosis is approximately 40%, and new methods are required to complement bedside testing, particularly if the patient’s capacity to show behavioral signs of awareness is diminished” (Monti, Vanhaudenhuyse, Coleman, & Boly, 2010, para. 1).

Infant learning and brain development is fragile and contingent upon numerous intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The most critical time frame for infant brain development is from the second trimester to the first three months of life (Marshall, 2011). During this time, neural pathways are forming, areas of the brain are maturing, and brain development is rapid. From infancy until the age of 3 years, neural pathways are still being formed in response to stimulation and for this reason, it is extremely important for caregivers and parents to be aware of the many factors that can influence brain development in infants (Marshall, 2011).

Advancement made in regard to cognitive neuroscience has enabled a better understanding of the cognitive processes in infants. Studies have indicated that cognitive development in infants starts before they are born. In the eighth week of pregnancy, fetuses have the ability to hear. They become accustomed to their

New born infants have poor visual acuity as opposed to adults. Visual acuity measures to what extent an individual can detect visual detail. Their lack of visual acuity means they see the world a more ill-defined manner. Adult visual acuity is thirty times the visual acuity of a new born (Van Hof-van Duin & Mohn 1985). Atkinson & Bradrick (1981), supported this and found that new born infants could only detect the separation of lines if they are 30 times wider than the minimum width adults can detect. There is at least a five-fold improvement by 6 months of age in acuity, though it takes several years for it to reach adult level, Brown & Yamamoto 1986. New born infants also have poor visual accommodation, needed to make sharp retinal images at different distances.

Vision challenge or impairment is when a person’s degree of seeing is very low and the affected person requires assistance in order to carry out daily routine. Significantly, for one to qualify as visually impaired there must be prove that a person cannot undertake duties by himself without necessary assistance. For a person to qualify as a visually challenged, there must be a prove that the affected eyes cannot be conventionally treated. Visual challenge cannot be corrected by surgery, refractive measures neither by medication and that is why it is termed as visual impairment. The most rampart causes of visual challenge are trauma, degenerative or congenital means and a variety of diseases. In the society,

Although babies spend most of their time sleeping and eating they still have transitions to different stages. For example, reflexes are the most common for people to recognize the organized patterns of behavior. Also, a crying baby is what everyone recognizes. However, it is somewhat good when the baby cries, because it stimulates strong discomfort that the adults can realize. Usually the baby just needs a diaper change or needs to be feed, but sometimes its more and it is the parent's job to figure out why the baby is crying. The parents have to soothe them; they can do this by rocking, walking, swaddling, and talking softly. The baby also is developing their five senses, so it is important that the parents do not interfere with the development. For example, using screaming very loudly can ruin a baby's hearing. Vision is the one that develops the least. Nerveless, newborns can recognize human faces and want the mother's familiar face instead of a stranger. The most widely used instrument for helping the behavior of the newborn infant is Brazelton's Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). It has helped researchers understand newborns better.

At birth newborns eye muscles and nerves are still developing, so their vision is not great. At birth infants can see an estimated 20/240, but in six months’ time the babies’ vision tremendously increases and they are able to see at 20/40. As infant’s vision increases they begin to see color and eventually recognize shapes. By 8 weeks of age infants are able to see color and around 3 months they are able recognize that an objects shape stays the same, even if in a different setting. As infants develop they not only are able to distinguish colors and shapes but also are able to develop the ability to perceive objects that are occulted are in fact whole.