Donald C. Fletcher, M.D., is one of the world’s leading authorities on low vision rehabilitation. Dr. Fletcher is a clinician and researcher in the field of retinal diseases and low vision rehabilitation. He is a medical doctor and an ophthalmologist who has completed fellowship training in both retinal diseases and low vision rehabilitation. After completing … Continued
When is the best time for a person to pursue low vision rehabilitation services? What are the factors that influence a person to make a “positive personal choice” to seek out low vision rehabilitation? A multi-disciplinary group of Canadian researchers has attempted to answer these questions, via a study that (a) categorizes the “predictors of … Continued
Ms. Nancy D. Miller, LMSW, began working with people of all ages who are blind, visually impaired, and multi-disabled in 1971. Since 1987, she has been Executive Director/CEO of VISIONS/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired, an 88-year-old vision rehabilitation and social service organization in New York City. Ms. Miller has a Bachelor of Science … Continued
Hypocorisma: It’s the bane of older adulthood. What is hypocorisma, you ask? Here is a helpful (and perceptive) definition from Maeve Maddox at the excellent Daily Writing Tips blog: Hypocorisma is a type of euphemism derived from a Greek word meaning “pet name.” The English word hypocorism may be defined as “the diminutive or otherwise … Continued
Kooshay Malek, MA, MFT, is a marriage and family therapist in Los Angeles, California. She also writes for the Discovery Eye Foundation Blog, which features lively, up-to-date information on eye disease, eye research, nutrition, low vision, technology, and healthy lifestyle choices. The following essay, in which Kooshay recounts her concurrent personal, medical, and educational journeys … Continued
The first clinical trial to examine integrated low vision and mental health treatment – bridging ophthalmology, optometry, psychiatry, psychology, and rehabilitation – has demonstrated that an interdisciplinary rehabilitation program can reduce the incidence of depression by half among older adults with low vision due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Ophthalmology: the Journal The research, entitled … Continued
Sue Wiygul Martin is the author of a just-published personal memoir, entitled Out of the Whirlpool: A Memoir of Remorse and Reconciliation, which she describes as “the story of a suicide attempt survivor and the rebuilding of a life.” Out of the Whirlpool, which began as a series of blog posts, describes Sue’s suicide attempt … Continued
Editor’s note: Information about Charles Bonnet Syndrome is of major interest to our visitors. It is often misunderstood by people experiencing the visual hallucinations and by professionals. So Mary D’Apice, VisionAware peer adviser, decided to share Dolores’s story to enlighten readers. Visual Hallucinations One night, 75-year-old Dolores woke up to find a huge tree growing … Continued
I Was the Best Grandma in the World The silence in the room reverberated through the walls. The words spoken by Mrs. GG left everyone speechless. The silence was apparent, and the raw emotion could be felt with every intake of breath in the room. Older men and women sat around a large round table … Continued
As our readers know, I have great admiration for the ongoing – and important – educational commitment of The Hadley School for the Blind. The mission of Hadley is to promote independent living through lifelong distance education programs for people who are blind or visually impaired, their families, and blindness service providers. A New “Mini-Course” … Continued