Guide to Low Vision
Aids and Products

I personally cannot imagine what it feels like to have low vision.

Essentially, this eye problem refers to lowered visual acuity, that cannot be corrected even with conventional prescription.

This means that all things appear blur, even if you put on a pair of eyeglasses or contact lenses.

In the U.S. and Canada, this is a specific legal term that applies to someone with a 20/70 or less vision in his/her better eye, with correction.

This eye disorder can be a result of certain birth factors (eg Leber's congenital amaurosis) or acquired factors (eg age related macular degeneration).

There are some people with low vision who can still go about their daily activities just by relying on their residual vision, ie what's left of what they can see.

A specialist can make use of telescopic systems or optical/electronic magnification to optimize this residual vision.

Special devices used to see things better

On the other hand, the specialist can also instruct those with a more severe problem on how to achieve better lighting and contrast in their surroundings so that they can see better.

Based on what I understand, there are some high tech aids out there that help improve vision too. These include OCR scanners that can scan books and documents into computers, which in turn read the text aloud (with the help of text-to-speech software), as well as CCTVs that electronically alter the contrast and magnification of documents.

I would suggest you speak to a specialist if you have this eye problem and have a thorough examination and discussion to see which aids or products help you best.

Although I'd rather there's no such thing as low vision in the first place, on the bright side, at least there's help available :)

How To Improve Eyesight >> Eye Problems >> Low Vision

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