Visual impairments occur more frequently among children who already have one diagnosed impairment. The impairment of vision impedes easy and rich learning in any child, but in a child with additional impairments, the loss of access due to the combined condition, can be tremendous. A number of professionals need to be involved in order for appropriate identification, diagnosis & intervention, however,

• Most ophthalmologists and optometrists report discomfort & lack of experience in examining these children.
• Most teachers of children with neurological impairments are not confident assessing or planning for children who have visual issues.

The result is that many children with other disabilities have no eye examination, no diagnosis and often no appropriate intervention services. Since there is little systematic information on what eye conditions co-occur with other disabilities in India, it has been difficult to plan focused and responsive training.

I COUNT is a comprehensive documentation system that seeks to address this issue. With the support of Sankara Netralaya and Elite School of Optometry, premier eye care institutes in Chennai, we have comprehensive documentation on visual status and services of more than 500 children with developmental disabilities.

Please download for detailed discussion of findings:

1. Paper presented at Vision 2008, Montreal, July 2008.
2. Paper presented at ICEVI, Kuala Lumpur, July 2006.

I COUNT screenings: Whole school screenings carried out for organizations serving children with developmental disabilities. organizations will receive a database of containing the individual and compiled data records of their students and will have access to all the I COUNT trainings.

I COUNT trainings: Annual cross-disciplinary trainings for ophthalmologists, optometrists and rehabilitation workers in the area of visual assessment and intervention for children with visual impairment and additional disabilities. Eminent experts such as Dr. Lea Hyvärinen and Dr. Linda Lawrence have lead the trainings.

I COUNT registry: Available for students pursuing research in the area of children with visual impairment and additional disability and for advocacy for improving services for this population.