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Low vision refers to vision that cannot be corrected with traditional glasses, contact lenses, or by cataract or other eye surgery. It can be due to an eye condition an individual was born with, or due to an eye condition that developed as a teenager or as an adult such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, or diabetic eye disease. Patients may experience blurred vision far away or up close, or have trouble seeing small letters on the eye chart. There may also be changes to peripheral vision (side vision), areas may seem like they are missing from center vision (scotoma), or there may be hazy vision (reduced contrast). Low vision may refer to any vision loss that makes it difficult to perform everyday tasks for school, work, or hobbies, which we call activities of daily living.
Blurry vision, hazy vision, loss of peripheral vision/bumping into objects, difficulty recognizing faces, difficulty reading, difficulty seeing the TV, difficulty driving, difficulty seeing at night, glare sensitivity, difficulty performing typical activities of daily living such as cooking and cleaning due to vision, all even with best glasses or contact lenses.
High powered reading glasses, telescopes, magnifiers, electronic magnifiers, adaptations for computer/tablet/smartphone, lighting, specialized sunwear, tools for visual field loss, tools for driving with low vision
A comprehensive low vision evaluation requires that you be scheduled for two visits with us. A member of our social work team will contact you to do an intake call prior to your visits.
If you have seen other doctors, we will need to review those records in order to best care for your eyes.
At the Low Vision evaluation
A detailed history will be taken, delving into the specifics of what you are having difficulty doing because of your vision. Your glasses prescription will be checked in a more detailed and specialized way and we will also assess your visual system in other ways such as testing your visual field or your contrast sensitivity. We will then demonstrate a variety of tools that can help you perform your everyday tasks. We will discuss our recommendations for what will help you. We will also discuss whether services by other rehabilitation professionals can help you and refer you for those services.
Low Vision and Vision Rehabilitation
At a glance: Low Vision
