Low Vision Services

People who have lost eyesight due to eye injuries or eye disease need special types of products to help them function as independently as possible. We offer a full range of these products through our office. Our paraoptometric staff is trained to demonstrate the use of some of these devices. They range all the way from a simple hand magnifier to a closed circuit TV system.

In addition, we can direct those who have low vision problems to products that will help them carry on the day-to-day tasks that they need to perform. In some cases we can set up a program for the low vision patient with the National Library of Congress to receive "books on tapes", which is a service for the blind.

What is Considered Low Vision?

Few people are totally without sight. Most individuals today classified as "blind" actually have remaining sight and, thanks to developments in the field of low vision rehabilitation, can be helped to make good use of it, improving their quality of life.
Anyone with uncorrectable reduced vision is visually impaired, and can have a wide range of problems. The World Health Organization uses the following classifications of visual impairment. When the vision in the better eye with best possible glasses correction is:

• 20/30 to 20/60 is considered mild vision loss, or near-normal vision
• 20/70 to 20/160 is considered moderate visual impairment, or moderate low vision
• 20/200 to 20/400 is considered severe visual impairment, or severe low vision
• 20/500 to 20/1,000 is considered profound visual impairment, or profound low vision
• less than 20/1,000 is considered near-total visual impairment, or near total blindness
• no light perception is considered total visual impairment, or total blindness
• There are also levels of visual impairment based on visual field loss (loss of peripheral vision).

In the United States, any person with vision that cannot be corrected to better than 20/200 in the best eye, or who has 20 degrees or less of visual field remaining, is considered legally blind.Visual impairments take many forms and exist in varying degrees. It is important to understand that visual acuity alone is not a good predictor of the degree of problems a person may have. Someone with relatively good acuity (e.g., 20/40) can have difficulty functioning, while someone with worse acuity (e.g., 20/200) might not be having any real problems.

Low Vision Aids

Some low-vision aids include:

• Magnifying lenses or special reading glasses that are specifically prescribed by low-vision practitioners.
• Prescriptive magnifiers come in a wide array of options, from hand-held, pocket, necklace and stand-alone magnifiers.
• As technology grows, so do the options in the electronic and video magnification arena, including telescope optics and camera readers.
• CCTV (closed circuit television) uses a camera to display images at a magnified size on a TV or computer monitor. Magnification can range from 3X to 60X, depending on the specific unit and the size of the monitor.
• Adaptive/assistive software that enlarges font size, produces speech output and transfers text to Braille. Other adaptive devices include very bright reading lamps, large-print and recorded books, magazines, newspapers and talking clocks