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Marjon lecturer speaks on cerebral vision impairment for InFocus Charity podcast

Released: 12.05.26

Plymouth Marjon University lecturer Dr Jonathan Waddington was recently invited to speak on the InFocus Charity’s podcast: Focus In, on the topic of Cerebral Vision Impairment (CVI).

CVI is described by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) as ‘a type of vision problem caused by the brain rather than the eyes.’ 

CVI is one of the most common causes of visual impairment in children. It is commonly diagnosed in babies and young children.

Some signs of CVI include difficulty recognising faces, trouble with depth perception, staring at lights and a limited ability to use vision for everyday tasks.

Dr Waddington began working in this area during his post-doctoral research, where he was adapting traditional interventions used with stroke patients, suffering from partial blindness (hemianopia), into a more engaging, game-based format for children. 

While conducting his research he spent time in a specialist school and college for learners with visual impairments. It was here where he became aware that hemianopia was only a small part of the picture, and that staff were seeing more children with brain-based visual difficulties that didn’t really fit into existing diagnostic categories.

It was this exposure that highlighted a broader and under-recognised area of need; and shaped the direction of his research.

Dr Waddington’s research has been used during the development of Eyelander. Eyelander is a game-based intervention designed to make visual rehab more engaging for children and young people. (www.eyelander.co.uk).

Awareness is strong in specialist settings; however wider recognition is still developing.  Change comes in increments and is mostly locally driven, depending heavily on the collaboration between education, health and specialist services. Increasing understanding within education, psychology, and health training programmes is an important part of longer-term change.

Listen to or watch the podcast here:

For more information on CVI, visit the website for The CVI Society, The InFocus Charity, CVI Scotland and the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

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