How was MEVU developed?

The need to develop a new measurement tool only began after a thorough review of existing instruments. The questions and response options for MEVU were developed from existing measurement tools and the involvement of key people: parents of children with cerebral palsy, adults with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy, and health and educational professionals who work with children and families.

Development of MEVU involved three phases of research:

  1. Conceptualisation - what to measure
  2. Development - how to measure
  3. Evaluation of psychometric properties

The development of MEVU was recently described in a Webinar for the NHMRC Funded Centre for Research Excellence: CP-ACHIEVE (https://www.cp-achieve.org.au/resources/podcasts-and-webinars/) in a 15 minute presentation titled ‘Introducing the Measure of Early Vision Use’. The webinar can be viewed here.

Further research is underway, including research with other populations e.g. children with vision impairment. See ongoing research for more information.

Who are the developers?

The Measure of Early Vision Use (MEVU) is the primary outcome of Belinda Deramore Denver’s PhD research.

The research team includes:

  • Belinda Deramore Denver - B. Psych, B AppSc (OT) & Grad Cert Ed (VI)
  • A/Prof Elspeth Froude - PhD, GradDip (Neurosciences), BAppSc (OT)
  • Prof Peter Rosenbaum - MD, FRCP(C), DSc (HC)
  • Prof Christine Imms - PhD, MSc (Rehab Sc), BAppSAc(OT), Fellow, OTARA

The development of MEVU has also involved many families and individuals, and health and educational professionals. Without the contribution of these people the development of MEVU would not have been possible.

Published research

Deramore Denver, B., Froude, E., Rosenbaum, P., Wilkes-Gillan, S. & Imms, C. (2016). Measurement of visual ability in children with cerebral palsy: a systematic review. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 58(10), 1016-1029. https://doi.org/10.1111/dmcn.13139

Deramore Denver, B., Adolfsson, M., Froude, E., Rosenbaum, P., & Imms, C. (2017). Methods for conceptualising ‘visual ability’ as a measurable construct in children with cerebral palsy. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 17(46), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-017-0316-6

Deramore Denver, B., Froude, E., Rosenbaum, P. & Imms, C. (2020). Measurement of Early Vision Use: Development of a new assessment tool for children with cerebral palsy. Disability & Rehabilitation, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2021.1890241.

Deramore Denver, B., Froude, E., Rosenbaum, P. & Imms, C. (2020). Measurement of Early Vision Use: Initial validation with parents of children with cerebral palsy. Disability & Rehabilitation, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2021.1890243.

Contact the developers

If you have any questions please send it to belinda.deramoredenver@acu.edu.au

Or complete the online form available at https://rdcap.acu.edu.au/surveys/?s=9ELE9X43XT