Our son just turned three. He has a variety of conditions related to cerebral palsy, but the one I am asking about is Cortical Visual Impairment. You can look it up if you wish. It is not an issue with his eyes, but with the part of the brain that processes visual information. He definitely sees and uses his vision, but I know it is different than “typical” children. Does anyone have experience teaching a young child with CVI to read? He is always interested in listening to the lessons, but he often looks away from the screen (purposefully).
It has been a while since I have read any of my Doman books, but I do know that very large letters are suggested - perhaps larger than you can get on a computer screen. My daughter has nystagmus & is very near sighted, so I tried to be careful about how I prepared her reading materials when we started with her as an infant. I’ll include a link of some of her first word cards. You will notice how large the first cards are. She was reading commercial print at age 3, which still sometimes suprises me because of her eye problems.
I also think crawling is one of the suggested activities to help with CVI when using a neurodevelopmental (ND) approach & is encouraged even in nonmobile kids by using a crawling track. Do you have any of the Doman books? They would likely have more answers. An ND program would be worth looking into. I am not very familiar with CP, but I am sure a neurodevelopmentalist could help you decide if it would be beneficial.
Could your son be using peripheral vision? My with multiple disabilities uses his peripheral vision. It seems he is looking away but he is actually using his peripheral vision. Maybe if your child seems to be engaged but is looking away this could be the case. If your child is actually not seeing then maybe try using glue on printed flashcards to make a raised effect and let him feel it.