Coping with Vision Loss : Maximizing What You Can See and Do

by Chapman, Bill; Moore, Dr. Lin

• ISBN13: 9780897933162
• ISBN10: 0897933168
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-03-27
• Publisher: Hunter House

Summary

This book begins with a promise: people with severe vision loss can be trained and equipped to function as sighted. The author, himself legally blind for 30 years, fulfills that promise with precise information and guidance on improving life through visual rehabilitation. The book explains fundamental facts about eyes and vision, including the causes and varieties of blindness, and then moves on to the new skills the partially sighted person must learn. Specific approaches and devices are covered in depth, including “eccentric viewing” and driving with telescopic glasses, and the visual and electronic aids that can help overcome the effects of vision loss. In spite of his own limited vision (20/240), Dr. Chapman uses a computer without a voice synthesizer, watches TV, and even drives, and he shows readers how to do the same.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	xiv
Acknowledgments	xvi
Foreword	xvii
Introduction
A Matter of Perspective: How to Use This Book The Scope of the Book	1	(7)
PART I: Vision and the Human Eye
Visual Acuity	8	(14)
``Legal Blindness'' Defined
How Test Charts Mislead
Visual Impairment Defined
A Visual Disability Scale
Disability: Handicap or Challenge?
Testing Your Visual Acuity
Understanding the Eye	22	(13)
The Eyeball's Shape
The Cornea
The Iris
The Lens
The Retina
How We See	35	(8)
Electrical Codes
Vision as Memory
Two Kinds of Retinal Cells
Concentration Rivets to the Point of Fixation
The Function of Peripheral Vision
Conscious Versus Unconscious Use of Vision
Eye Fatigue and Pain	43	(5)
Fatigue in the Nondominant Eye
Eye Fatigue from Other Causes
Dry Eyes
PART II: Other Things to Know
Emotional Issues	48	(9)
Depression
Independence Versus Dependence
Grief
Secondary Gain
Progressive Loss of Vision
Ego Defense Mechanisms
Doctors	57	(10)
Ophthalmologists
Optometrists
Low-Vision Specialists
What Makes a ``Good'' Low-Vision Specialist?
Finding a Low-Vision Specialist
Perks and Privileges	67	(7)
Talking Books
Free Matter for the Blind and Handicapped
Free Directory Assistance
Free Tuition
Gifted-Child Programs
Descriptive Video Programs
More Perks and Privileges
PART III: Major Causes of Vision Loss
Cataracts	74	(5)
When Should Cataracts Be Removed?
Diabetic Retinopathy	79	(4)
Two Kinds of Diabetes
Treatment
Prognosis
Glaucoma	83	(6)
How Glaucoma Damages the Eye
Tests for Glaucoma
Treatment
Macular Degeneration	89	(13)
Stargardt's Disease
Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Retinitis Pigmentosa	102	(8)
What Causes RP?
How Is RP Inherited?
How Prevalent Is It?
Does Treatment Exist?
How Seriously Will Vision Be Impacted?
Coping with RP
PART IV: Coping Techniques and Equipment
The First Principle: Get Closer	110	(4)
The First Principle
What Else Should I Know?
Eccentric Viewing	114	(9)
What Is Eccentric Viewing?
How to Use Eccentric Viewing
Scanning	123	(3)
What is Scanning?
Light	126	(6)
Managing Light
Getting More Light
Light Sensitivity
Using Light Properly
Reading Menus in Dark Restaurants
Contrast Enhancement	132	(3)
Ways to Enhance Contrast
Talking Appliances and Large-Print Products	135	(1)
Magnification: Make It Bigger	136	(3)
Make It Bigger: A Basic Principle
Low-Vision Aids and Their Use	139	(21)
Low-Vision Optics
Prescription Optical Aids
Nonprescription Optical Aids
Nonoptical Aids
How Much Magnification?	160	(3)
Video Visual Aids	163	(6)
What is a Video Visual Aid?
Proper Use of Video Visual Aids
Elvis and Jordy	169	(3)
Aids for the Computer User	172	(4)
Reading Aids and Voice Aids
Help for the Moderately Impaired
Special Aids for Field Loss	176	(3)
Vision Expanders
Night Scopes
Aids for Driving	179	(5)
A Raging Controversy
To Try or Not to Try
Using Telescopic Glasses: Some Basics
Aids for Watching Television	184	(4)
Get Closer
Using Telescopic Aids
Aids for Writing	188	(2)
Handling Money	190	(2)
Playing Cards (and Analyzing Visual Tasks)	192	(3)
Reading a Watch	195	(1)
A Survival Kit	196	(4)
PART V: Specialized Knowledge and Skills
Education	200	(22)
Recordings for the Blind
Educational Goals
Attending College
Driving with Telescopic Glasses: An Introduction	222	(13)
Basic Techniques
Difficult Versus Easy Streets
State-Imposed Restrictions
Familiar Versus Unfamiliar Streets
Speedometers and Traffic Signals
Learning to Drive
Two Scopes or One?
About the Scope and Glasses
Driving with Telescopic Glasses: A Training Program	235	(14)
Rationale and Structure of the Training Program
The Training Program
Misconceptions about Driving with Telescopic Glasses	249	(13)
About Statistical Analysis
The Ring Scotoma
A Field of Six Feet Viewing Targets Fifty Feet Away
Reading Highway Signs
Decay of Visual Acuity Caused by Car Vibration
Speed-Smear
The ``Jack-in-the-Box Effect''
A 22-Percent Loss of Field
A Proposal for Licensing Visually Impaired Drivers
Epilogue	262	(1)
Appendix A: An Eye Test Chart	263	(1)
Appendix B: Sources of Help	264	(7)
Appendix C: Instructions for Building a Plate Light	271	(2)
Endnotes	273	(1)
Bibliography	274	(2)
Index	276