RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Reports in the literature concerning best practice for the evaluation and management of children with visual impairments are limited, with a resulting lack of information concerning the potential for optimizing vision to enhance general development and assist with the educational needs of this population. METHOD: The development of a multidisciplinary approach to provide low-vision services for children with visual impairment has occurred over the past 18 years in Iowa. In that time, 1,348 children from around the state of Iowa have been evaluated through an itinerant low-vision service program, coordinated by the Iowa Braille School. RESULTS: A low-vision clinic model--designed to provide services (primarily) for academic students--was not meeting the needs of the pediatric low-vision population in the state. After a statewide review of the program, changes were made that have resulted in low-vision services being provided to a greater and more diverse number of students. The roles of the various members of the multidisciplinary team will be reviewed. Changes in large-print orders and use by special education teachers in the state as a direct result of the low-vision services will also be discussed. CONCLUSION: Ongoing, comprehensive multidisciplinary low-vision services--including optometric low-vision care as a key component--are necessary to help children with visual impairments meet their educational, vocational, and avocational needs. With ongoing low-vision services, unnecessary costs such as those associated with large-print materials can be reduced, thereby creating significant savings to local, state, and federal special educational services.
