Low Vision Management Research Articles

Using visual thresholds to establish low vision performance

Table 6 gives an example of a similar task (N10 print of 75% contrast) but with different requirements of fluency showing how much extra visual performance (acuity threshold, contrast threshold and magnification) is needed to achieve fluent reading. After the clinical assessment of visual function, it should be possible to categorize clients into three different groups on the basis of their threshold visual performance, each needing a different approach depending on their goals and needs as shown in Table 7. These are: Group I: Limited or no survival reading potential. Group II: Survival reading potential but limited likelihood of fluency. Group III: Clear survival reading potential with fluent reading possible if motivated. The author believes that it is always best to start with what the client has to read in order to maintain their independence, rather than what they wish to read for leisure, education or employment. Therefore, it is more successful to concentrate initially on spot/survival reading even if the client seems to have potential for regaining fluency. It should, however, be made clear to the client that this is the approach to be adopted. It is futile for the practitioner, as well as frustrating and demoralizing to the client, to press ahead with complex devices or wasteful trial and error sessions if, at an early stage, it is clear that the client will never return to fluent reading. Instead, it is far better to begin the move to vision substitution (e.g. audio-tapes) for leisure reading at an earlier stage. The overriding influence in low vision management is clearly the motivation of the client.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The Management of Low Vision in Children: Report of the 1992 World Health Organization Consultation

This article presents a summary of various presentations and discussions from the 1992 WHO meeting hosted by ICEVH in Thailand.

BRIEF REVIEWS

Books reviewed in this article: Clinical Optics. By A. R. Elkington and H. J. Frank. Management of Low Vision. By Gerald E. Fonda. Transactions of the First International Congress, ‘The Frontiers of Optometry’, 11–14 April 1984, London. Edited by W. N. Charman.

Management of Low Vision

Management of Low Vision

Management of Low Vision

Once a patient has experienced severe visual impairment that cannot be alleviated by further medical or surgical treatment, the ophthalmologist is inclined to lose interest, partly because such a patient represents failure and partly because of ignorance of the value of counseling and the provision of low-vision aids. The plethora of devices that has been publicized as low-vision aids gives the impression that this is a highly specialized field not suitable for the general practitioner. This book should serve to reassure the reader that a high proportion of visually handicapped patients can be helped by the use of simple devices. The first part of the book describes the type of diseases amenable and not amenable to correction, vision testing equipment, and methods of examination. The second part of the book deals with the correction of low vision by magnification, visual aids for seeing distance and near, illumination, and the indications