Low vision and blindness affect a substantial portion of the older adult population in the United States. Although new research from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine indicates that the annual number of new cases of blindness and low vision among people aged 45 years and older is estimated to double during the next 30 … Continued
At the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) in New Orleans, Louisiana, November 11-14, 2017, Dr. John D. Shepherd, Director of the Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, delivered a powerful lecture on older adults, depression, and vision loss. Dr. Shepherd discussed his own experience … Continued
Vision rehabilitation professionals, including Orientation and Mobility Specialists, Vision Rehabilitation Therapists, and Low Vision Therapists, have long been aware of the need to incorporate sensory input, including echolocation, in their instructional programs. Human echolocation describes the ability of humans to detect objects in their environments by sensing reflected sound waves from those objects. Now it … Continued
According to VisionAware’s Gregory L. Goodrich, Ph.D., writing about combat-related traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its effect on vision: “… It can be argued that … it took the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to highlight the fact that head injury often leads to visual loss and/or visual dysfunctions. These wars have resulted in over … Continued
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Public Policy Center has announced the reintroduction of federal legislation that seeks to establish a nationwide Medicare demonstration project to evaluate the fiscal impact of a permanent change in Medicare coverage that would, for the first time, provide reimbursement for low vision devices. The AFB Public Policy Center, … Continued
Guest blogger Rebecca Sheffield, Ph.D., is the Senior Policy Researcher with the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. The AFB Public Policy Center collaborates with policy makers in Congress and the Executive Branch to ensure that Americans with vision loss have equal rights and opportunities to fully participate in … Continued
Editor’s note: One of the many benefits associated with an online information center and website, such as VisionAware, is the ability to track readers’ search terms [i.e., information readers are seeking as they search online]. Of particular concern to many readers are issues related to the diagnosis and treatment of low vision, as evidenced by … Continued
Dr. Joseph Fontenot is a medical doctor, Certified Low Vision Therapist, and Medical Director of Community Services for Vision Rehabilitation (CSVR), with offices in Alabama and Mississippi. He is also the current Chair of the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Vision Rehabilitation Committee. In that role, he commissioned and led the production of There Is Something … Continued
Guest blogger Bryan Gerritsen is a certified low vision therapist (CLVT) and owner of Low Vision Rehabilitation Services, providing low vision services throughout Utah. He is also the author of An Overview of Low Vision Devices, What are Low Vision Optical Devices?, Helpful Non-Optical Devices for Low Vision, Electronic Magnifiers and Magnifying Systems, and the … Continued
During the past several years, there has been much “buzz” in the popular press about the capabilities of the so-called “bionic” eye, described variously as “miraculous,” “restoring sight,” and “letting me see again.” At VisionAware, we have followed the development of “bionic” or “prosthetic” vision closely, avoiding hyperbole and striving to report factual, research-based information … Continued