ACVREP CVRT cheat sheet

Legal blindness in the United States is best-corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or worse in the better eye, or a visual field of 20 degrees or less.

ACVREP certifies Vision Rehabilitation Therapists (CVRT); certification is time-limited and maintained through continuing education and adherence to the ACVREP Code of Ethics.

Core ethical principles include autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity.

Informed consent requires disclosure of purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, alternatives, and the right to refuse or withdraw without penalty.

Scope of practice: CVRTs teach adaptive independent-living skills; orientation and mobility specialists teach travel; low vision therapists address optical device use.

Documentation uses objective, behavioral language and commonly follows SOAP: Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan.

Confidentiality is limited by mandated reporting, imminent risk of harm, and court order.

Professional boundaries prohibit dual relationships that impair objectivity or exploit the client.

HIPAA governs protected health information and applies the minimum-necessary standard to disclosures.

Adjustment to vision loss is nonlinear; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance may recur rather than follow a fixed sequence.

The medical model locates disability in the individual; the social model locates disability in environmental and attitudinal barriers.

Learned helplessness occurs when repeated uncontrollable events produce passivity; mastery experiences and choice reduce it.

Risk factors for poorer psychosocial adjustment include sudden late-onset loss, low social support, preexisting depression, and multiple comorbidities.

Protective factors include social support, prior coping success, meaningful social roles, and timely rehabilitation.

Grief after vision loss can include loss of identity, independence, occupational roles, and social connection, not only visual function.

Family systems theory holds that one member's vision loss changes roles, communication, and routines for the entire household.

Depression screening is indicated when sadness, anhedonia, sleep change, or hopelessness persists; CVRTs refer rather than diagnose.

Stigma management includes controlling disclosure, reframing blindness identity, and contact with blind role models.

Functional assessment covers visual function, ADL and IADL performance, psychosocial status, environment, support system, and vocational or educational goals.

Task analysis breaks an activity into observable steps; baseline data record assistance level and accuracy before instruction.

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Person-centered planning places the client's stated priorities first; professional priorities are negotiated rather than imposed.

A functional vision assessment describes how the person uses remaining vision across lighting, distance, contrast, and tasks; it is not a medical diagnosis.

Data collection should be objective and include frequency, duration, accuracy, prompting level, and setting.

The HAAT model analyzes Human, Activity, Assistive Technology, and Context.

The SETT framework considers Student, Environment, Tasks, and Tools.

Service plans specify goals, methods, responsible parties, timelines, and discharge criteria, and are reviewed and revised with the client.

ADLs include bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, eating, and transferring; IADLs include cooking, shopping, finances, medications, housekeeping, transportation, and telephone use.

Contrast enhancement uses dark objects on light backgrounds or light objects on dark backgrounds and avoids low-contrast combinations.

Consistent storage locations and tactile labels reduce search time and errors.

Kitchen safety includes turning pot handles inward, tactile markers on appliance controls, and avoiding overfilling containers the hand cannot judge.

Water heaters set below 120°F (49°C) and temperature checks before bathing reduce burn risk.

Medication management uses organized containers, refill schedules, and talking or large-print labels, with pharmacist confirmation.

Work simplification combines tasks, eliminates unnecessary steps, organizes supplies, and schedules rest periods.

Diabetic foot care includes daily tactile inspection and well-fitting shoes because vision loss raises the risk of unnoticed injury.

Money identification uses tactile or electronic identifiers, currency readers, and consistent bill-folding systems.

Braille has uncontracted (grade 1) and contracted (grade 2) forms; Unified English Braille is the standard literary code in the United States.

Nemeth code is used for mathematics and science braille.

Large print commonly uses 18-point or larger sans-serif fonts, high contrast, and 1.25 to 1.5 line spacing.

Screen readers convert text to synthetic speech or braille; magnifiers enlarge; optical character recognition converts images of text to editable text.

Eccentric viewing uses a preferred retinal locus adjacent to the scotoma; steady eye strategy trains consistent fixation.

Sensory substitution uses intact senses: touch for braille and tactile markers, hearing for speech and audio cues, and smell for safety cues.

Active listening includes open-ended questions, paraphrasing, reflecting feelings, and summarizing.

Teach-back confirms understanding by asking the client to explain or demonstrate the instruction.

Telecommunications options include TTY, relay services, captioned telephone, and video relay for sign language users.

Low-tech devices include magnifiers, tactile markers, bold-line paper, and talking watches; high-tech devices include screen readers, CCTVs, and GPS.

Optical devices include hand and stand magnifiers for near tasks, telescopes for distance, and prisms for field expansion; each has trade-offs in field, working distance, and portability.

CCTV magnification commonly ranges from 2x to 60x; higher magnification reduces the visible field.

Screen magnification enlarges on-screen content; screen readers provide auditory access; braille displays provide tactile output.

The HAAT model matches device features to the person, activity, and context rather than to diagnosis alone.

Device abandonment is reduced by real-setting trials, training, follow-up, and user involvement in selection.

Funding sources include vocational rehabilitation, Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, veterans' benefits, and disability-related programs.

Accessibility features include contrast themes, larger cursors, sticky keys, voice control, and text-to-speech.

Universal design creates products and environments usable by people with diverse abilities without specialized adaptation.

The Rehabilitation Act funds vocational rehabilitation; Title I of the ADA prohibits employment discrimination and requires reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship.

The interactive process is a good-faith employer-employee dialogue to identify barriers and effective accommodations.

An Individualized Plan for Employment specifies the employment goal, services, responsibilities, timeline, and appeal rights.

Under order of selection, when vocational rehabilitation resources are insufficient, eligible individuals with the most significant disabilities are served first.

WIOA American Job Centers provide integrated employment, training, and career services.

Reasonable accommodations may include assistive technology, schedule changes, workspace modification, readers, or accessible materials.

Disclosure of disability is the employee's choice; accommodation requests generally require disclosure of need, not diagnosis.

Customized employment negotiates job tasks around the person's strengths, interests, and support needs.

Benefits counseling addresses how earnings affect SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, and Medicare.

Age-related macular degeneration affects central vision; dry AMD is more common, while wet AMD can progress rapidly and is treated with anti-VEGF injections.

Glaucoma typically causes peripheral visual field loss first; diabetic retinopathy can cause fluctuating vision and retinal bleeding.

Cataracts cause glare, halos, and reduced contrast; surgery is common and usually restores function.

Charles Bonnet syndrome involves formed visual hallucinations in people with vision loss who retain insight that the images are not real.

With acquired hearing loss, face the person, reduce background noise, speak clearly without shouting, and use written or tactile supports.

Deafblindness may require tactile sign language, print-on-palm, and support service providers.

Normal aging changes include a smaller pupil, yellowed lens, reduced contrast sensitivity, glare sensitivity, and slower dark adaptation.

Dementia and vision loss interact; assessment must separate sensory from cognitive causes of confusion and fall risk.

Vision loss increases fall risk; home assessment addresses lighting, contrast, clutter, and rugs.

Legal blindness in the United States is best-corrected visual acuity of 20/200 or worse in the better eye, or a visual field of 20 degrees or less.

ACVREP certifies Vision Rehabilitation Therapists (CVRT); certification is time-limited and maintained through continuing education and adherence to the ACVREP Code of Ethics.

Core ethical principles include autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity.

Informed consent requires disclosure of purpose, procedures, risks, benefits, alternatives, and the right to refuse or withdraw without penalty.

Scope of practice: CVRTs teach adaptive independent-living skills; orientation and mobility specialists teach travel; low vision therapists address optical device use.

Documentation uses objective, behavioral language and commonly follows SOAP: Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan.

Confidentiality is limited by mandated reporting, imminent risk of harm, and court order.

Professional boundaries prohibit dual relationships that impair objectivity or exploit the client.

HIPAA governs protected health information and applies the minimum-necessary standard to disclosures.

Adjustment to vision loss is nonlinear; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance may recur rather than follow a fixed sequence.

The medical model locates disability in the individual; the social model locates disability in environmental and attitudinal barriers.

Learned helplessness occurs when repeated uncontrollable events produce passivity; mastery experiences and choice reduce it.

Risk factors for poorer psychosocial adjustment include sudden late-onset loss, low social support, preexisting depression, and multiple comorbidities.

Protective factors include social support, prior coping success, meaningful social roles, and timely rehabilitation.

Grief after vision loss can include loss of identity, independence, occupational roles, and social connection, not only visual function.

Family systems theory holds that one member's vision loss changes roles, communication, and routines for the entire household.

Depression screening is indicated when sadness, anhedonia, sleep change, or hopelessness persists; CVRTs refer rather than diagnose.

Stigma management includes controlling disclosure, reframing blindness identity, and contact with blind role models.

Functional assessment covers visual function, ADL and IADL performance, psychosocial status, environment, support system, and vocational or educational goals.

Task analysis breaks an activity into observable steps; baseline data record assistance level and accuracy before instruction.

SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Person-centered planning places the client's stated priorities first; professional priorities are negotiated rather than imposed.

A functional vision assessment describes how the person uses remaining vision across lighting, distance, contrast, and tasks; it is not a medical diagnosis.

Data collection should be objective and include frequency, duration, accuracy, prompting level, and setting.

The HAAT model analyzes Human, Activity, Assistive Technology, and Context.

The SETT framework considers Student, Environment, Tasks, and Tools.

Service plans specify goals, methods, responsible parties, timelines, and discharge criteria, and are reviewed and revised with the client.

ADLs include bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, eating, and transferring; IADLs include cooking, shopping, finances, medications, housekeeping, transportation, and telephone use.

Contrast enhancement uses dark objects on light backgrounds or light objects on dark backgrounds and avoids low-contrast combinations.

Consistent storage locations and tactile labels reduce search time and errors.

Kitchen safety includes turning pot handles inward, tactile markers on appliance controls, and avoiding overfilling containers the hand cannot judge.

Water heaters set below 120°F (49°C) and temperature checks before bathing reduce burn risk.

Medication management uses organized containers, refill schedules, and talking or large-print labels, with pharmacist confirmation.

Work simplification combines tasks, eliminates unnecessary steps, organizes supplies, and schedules rest periods.

Diabetic foot care includes daily tactile inspection and well-fitting shoes because vision loss raises the risk of unnoticed injury.

Money identification uses tactile or electronic identifiers, currency readers, and consistent bill-folding systems.

Braille has uncontracted (grade 1) and contracted (grade 2) forms; Unified English Braille is the standard literary code in the United States.

Nemeth code is used for mathematics and science braille.

Large print commonly uses 18-point or larger sans-serif fonts, high contrast, and 1.25 to 1.5 line spacing.

Screen readers convert text to synthetic speech or braille; magnifiers enlarge; optical character recognition converts images of text to editable text.

Eccentric viewing uses a preferred retinal locus adjacent to the scotoma; steady eye strategy trains consistent fixation.

Sensory substitution uses intact senses: touch for braille and tactile markers, hearing for speech and audio cues, and smell for safety cues.

Active listening includes open-ended questions, paraphrasing, reflecting feelings, and summarizing.

Teach-back confirms understanding by asking the client to explain or demonstrate the instruction.

Telecommunications options include TTY, relay services, captioned telephone, and video relay for sign language users.

Low-tech devices include magnifiers, tactile markers, bold-line paper, and talking watches; high-tech devices include screen readers, CCTVs, and GPS.

Optical devices include hand and stand magnifiers for near tasks, telescopes for distance, and prisms for field expansion; each has trade-offs in field, working distance, and portability.

CCTV magnification commonly ranges from 2x to 60x; higher magnification reduces the visible field.

Screen magnification enlarges on-screen content; screen readers provide auditory access; braille displays provide tactile output.

The HAAT model matches device features to the person, activity, and context rather than to diagnosis alone.

Device abandonment is reduced by real-setting trials, training, follow-up, and user involvement in selection.

Funding sources include vocational rehabilitation, Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, veterans' benefits, and disability-related programs.

Accessibility features include contrast themes, larger cursors, sticky keys, voice control, and text-to-speech.

Universal design creates products and environments usable by people with diverse abilities without specialized adaptation.

The Rehabilitation Act funds vocational rehabilitation; Title I of the ADA prohibits employment discrimination and requires reasonable accommodation absent undue hardship.

The interactive process is a good-faith employer-employee dialogue to identify barriers and effective accommodations.

An Individualized Plan for Employment specifies the employment goal, services, responsibilities, timeline, and appeal rights.

Under order of selection, when vocational rehabilitation resources are insufficient, eligible individuals with the most significant disabilities are served first.

WIOA American Job Centers provide integrated employment, training, and career services.

Reasonable accommodations may include assistive technology, schedule changes, workspace modification, readers, or accessible materials.

Disclosure of disability is the employee's choice; accommodation requests generally require disclosure of need, not diagnosis.

Customized employment negotiates job tasks around the person's strengths, interests, and support needs.

Benefits counseling addresses how earnings affect SSI, SSDI, Medicaid, and Medicare.

Age-related macular degeneration affects central vision; dry AMD is more common, while wet AMD can progress rapidly and is treated with anti-VEGF injections.

Glaucoma typically causes peripheral visual field loss first; diabetic retinopathy can cause fluctuating vision and retinal bleeding.

Cataracts cause glare, halos, and reduced contrast; surgery is common and usually restores function.

Charles Bonnet syndrome involves formed visual hallucinations in people with vision loss who retain insight that the images are not real.

With acquired hearing loss, face the person, reduce background noise, speak clearly without shouting, and use written or tactile supports.

Deafblindness may require tactile sign language, print-on-palm, and support service providers.

Normal aging changes include a smaller pupil, yellowed lens, reduced contrast sensitivity, glare sensitivity, and slower dark adaptation.

Dementia and vision loss interact; assessment must separate sensory from cognitive causes of confusion and fall risk.

Vision loss increases fall risk; home assessment addresses lighting, contrast, clutter, and rugs.