Why Visual Performance Matters: Foundations for Occupational Therapy Practice: facilitator notes

Presenter cues

• Anchor the module: adaptation is intervention. You do not wait for the eye exam to make the task usable.
• Walk the four levels with one occupation the whole way through — reading a worksheet works well — so the levels stay concrete.
• Hold up an actual worksheet next to the contrast reference slide. That moment changes more practice than the slide does.

Answer key

Which three modifications from this module serve both profiles at once?

Best three: (1) contrast enhancement — bold-line or highlighted paper and high-contrast print serves low acuity and reduces figure-ground search cost; (2) decluttering and array reduction — fewer items per page, one task per page, cleared desk and walls; (3) lighting and glare control — task light on the working side, matte surfaces, window beside or behind, which raises effective contrast without changing the material. Accept line isolation (typoscope) as a fourth. Point out these rarely conflict, which is why one plan can serve both profiles.

What would you measure before and after the modifications to show they worked?

Pick countable, condition-bound measures and keep the task identical: lines completed in a fixed 10 minutes; place losses per passage; time to locate a named target in the array; adult prompts required; and student-reported comfort or fatigue at a fixed time point. Change one variable at a time so you know which modification carried the effect, and record the condition ("with highlighted two-line paper, task light on") in the same sentence as the number.

Examples to read aloud

• Reflection model answer (Module 5), occupation = reading a worksheet: "Increasing visibility means enlarging print to 18 pt on matte paper with a task light. Enhancing the signal means a stand magnifier or pinch-to-zoom on a tablet. Augmenting means text-to-speech running alongside the print. Substitution means the full audio version when the visual channel cannot carry the task."
• Mini-exercise model answer: "Given high-contrast, enlarged (18 pt) worksheets and a glare-free seat, [student] will complete written classwork within the time allotted to peers on 4 of 5 opportunities."

Watch-outs

• Participants will ask which magnifier to order. Redirect: trial what the student already carries — the tablet — before ordering anything, and remember device selection sits with the low-vision provider.
• Someone will treat low vision as a Level 5 problem. It is a Level 1 access problem; Level 5 change is the downstream result.