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Approximately
10 million people in North America are dealing with vision loss. “Low
vision” is vision loss that cannot be corrected by ordinary glasses,
contact lenses, medication or surgery. Some signs of low vision
include: difficulty recognizing a familiar face; difficulty reading -
print appears broken or distorted; or difficulty seeing objects and
potential obstacles such as steps, curbs, walls and furniture. But
people with low vision retain some usable vision. Ophthalmologists and
optometrists specializing in low vision care can evaluate patients and
may be able to prescribe optical devices to maximize remaining vision.
The sources here can provide additional information on coping with
vision loss.
Medical Information
Eye Disorders: Merck
Manual Home Edition
Based on The Merck Manual, but written in everyday language by 300
outstanding contributors, the site explains disorders, who is likely to
get them, their symptoms, how they're diagnosed, how they might be
prevented, and how they can be treated.
Texas
School for the Blind Vision Related Web Site
While the name of the site may be a bit misleading in that it covers
“vision loss” and not just blindness, it is an excellent compendium of
resources on the topic. It contains sections on vision related web
sites, organizations providing assistance to someone dealing with
vision loss, information on eye disorders and syndromes, information
for families, and much more. Browseable.
Helpful
Websites for Eye, Low Vision, and Medical Information
While there is no annotation on this site, the extensive list of links
is worthwhile nonetheless. Primary attention is paid to those sites
dealing with medical treatment and diagnosis.
Information about Adapting to
Vision Loss
Vision Help
This is an excellent, very readable site providing information on low
vision, diagnosis, treatment, and ways to maximize remaining vision.
Additional resources provided.
Enrichment
Audio Resource Services
With the onset of declining vision comes the need to relearn how to do
many daily activities. EARS provides free, audio cassette lesson tapes
that teach adaptive daily living skills to the visually impaired and
their caregivers. The lessons are modeled after current blind
rehabilitation techniques for coping with loss of vision. Lesson tapes
give uncomplicated, straight-forward ways to help do the things made
difficult by low vision: personal grooming, doing the laundry, dialing
the telephone, etc. This is an excellent resource for anyone just
coping with vision loss.
The Low Vision
Gateway
The Gateway was created to be your starting point to access information
on the World Wide Web related to the fields of low vision and
blindness. The purpose is not to present one approach or bias but to
provide access to all related information on the Internet.
National
Association
for Visually Handicapped
NAVH is committed to ensuring that impaired vision does not result in
impaired life. Its mission is to help the "hard of seeing", worldwide
cope with the psychological effects of visual impairment and to provide
low vision services, visual aids and training to anyone in need of
these services. NAVH has several print resources for the "hard of
seeing." In these Articles, you will find excerpts from NAVHs large
print literature on vision, eye disease, treatment options and proper
nutrition. Complete articles are available upon request.
The Blind
Readers’ Page
This site is a guide to sources of information in alternative formats
(braille, recorded cassettes, large print, e-texts, and web audio)
accessible by people with print disabilities. It is also a guide to
information about vision loss and other physical disabilities, with a
special collection of Wisconsin resources. There are about 2,300
individual links, all evaluated, annotated and organized by subject.
Blindness
and Visual Impairment
This About.com site is a good comprehensive portal to the field.
The
American Foundation
for the Blind
AFB is an outstanding source of information on a wide variety of topics
related to vision loss. Links include:
- Glossary
of Eye Conditions
- Senior
Site
which contains
information on
understanding vision loss, finding help
& support, changing your home, daily living skills, as well as
fitness & fun.
- Living
with Vision Loss
which treats how to do
daily living
tasks such as read and write, raise
a family, have a social life, travel, maintain a career, etc.
- Technology
Assistive or adaptive
technology has
exploded many barriers to
education and employment for visually impaired individuals. Adults with
visual impairments can continue to work and pursue a tremendous range
of careers in mainstream society because of the use of computers and
other devices. A variety of information on technology can be found in
this web site section, which features descriptions of adaptive
equipment, offers tips on using technology effectively, and gives
technology specialists advice on making web sites and computer
applications accessible to people who are visually impaired.
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