Author: light2sight5153@gmail.com

Highlight: Where can I find online courses in the field of blindness & low vision?

There’s a great resource through the American Foundation for the Blind. It’s their eLearning Center for professionals in the field.

Some of the courses are free such as A Brief Overview of Unified English Braille, Age-Related Eye Conditions (AMD, cataracts, glaucoma), Job Seekers Toolkit and more.  Click here for the list of free courses.

Also available are Continuing Education (CE) credits for professionals such as

  • Educators
  • Rehabilitation and occupational therapists
  • Orientation anClick hered mobility specialists
  • Rehabilitation counselors

Click here to find out which professional organizations give CEs.

You can even get 1 CE for reading the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness.  Click here to find out more.

 

Highlight: How can I adapt my home so I can be safe and independent?

It is so frustrating not be able to do things at home that you might have been able to do in the past and do safely.

  • Have you burned something on the stove or in the oven or in the microwave?
  • Have you twisted your ankle because you missed a step that you used to be able to see?
  • Are you able to find clothes in the closet that go together?
  • Have you poured orange juice over your cereal because you thought you had the milk carton which looks a lot like the juice carton?
  • Can you find the switch plates on the wall?
  • Have you fallen over furniture?
  • Have you burnt yourself trying to make a pot of coffee?
  • Have you tripped over dark-colored throw rugs on dark-colored floors?
  • Have you been unable to tell if the toilet seat is up so you’ve sat down in the toilet bowl?
  • Do you misplace the magnifying glass when you need to read the instructions on a medication bottle?

It’s true that even those with full sight have done some of those things, some of which are funny at the time, but it can be really serious for those with low vision.

There are some good tips for avoiding some of these things so that you can remain safe and independent.  Here’s a good article with tips on:

  • finding clothing that matches
  • using the microwave control pad so you don’t burn your food
  • avoiding falls on floors, over furniture and down steps by providing contrast
  • chosing the right kind of lighting for the area and the task
  • putting lighting where you need it, inside and outside
  • cutting down glare that makes it more difficult to see
  • finding out what low vision aids are available for the home and where to get them
  • adapting each room in the house for your needs

Click here for a very complete guide Household Tips for People with Low Vision.

Click here to read about a book called Making Life More Livable.  I’ve not read it. If you have & would like to write a book review, please let me know.

Do you have any other tips?  Please leave a comment so we can share them with others.

Highlight: How can we protect our eyes indoors?

I accidentally published this but it’s not done yet!
 ** under construction **

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Lighting

Artificial lighting is used to simulate the light of the sun indoors.  We need proper lighting not only for vision tasks but for safety.  When the macula is damaged by AMD, not only do we lose our visual acuity but also our ability to process glare and contrast. The range of light made available varies quite a bit, each type with its own benefits and risks (sometimes these are based on scientific research, sometimes opinion & experience). The brightness & type of light is important.  These are the most common types of lighting you can get –  there are others that you’ll see in the links provided below:

  • Full spectrum: You get the entire spectrum just like you do with the sun (infrared, visible, non-visible). This type of lighting is used to grow plants indoors (grow lights) but also to sew and do crafts. It enhances color & contrast but it includes the harmful UVA, UVB and blue light.
  • Incandescent: the most common form of light bulb which provides a yellower, more direct light that is good for close work, like sewing or reading.  There is some blue light emitted.
  • Halogen: produces the brightest and whitest light. For some people with low vision, it can enhance contrast between print and background, but for others they generate too much glare. It also generates a lot of heat.
  • LED (Liquid Electrical Display): The newest form of lighting.  The quality of light provided is excellent, the color of the light is not damaging to the eyes (has no UV rays), the bulbs are long-lasting (eg, with 8 hours a day, an LED light could last 14 years) and there are no hot lamp surfaces or bulbs. They do, however, emit blue light.  For that reason, some people do not use them.  
  • Fluorescent : casts blue-white light evenly and without shadows over a wide area. Because it generates a lot of light without using a lot of electricity, it is the type of lighting most often used in public places, such as supermarkets or offices. But it can create increased glare.

Here are some links to helpful sources regarding indoor lighting.

Lens Coatings/screen protectors to filter out harmful rays

Not only do we have to protect our eyes outdoors but also indoors.   We’ve talked about the type of light that can be made available but there are two more considerations:

  • what if you can’t control the lighting in your environment, eg, you work where there are flourescent lighting that causes glare or full spectrum light which emits blue light?
  • We are getting harmful blue light from our computers, tablets, cell phones, TVs, etc.

glasses

https://www.lowbluelights.com/index.asp

Not all amber lens filter blue light

http://www.cocoonseyewear.com/sunwear/category.php?id=53

https://www.paleohacks.com/sleep/will-plain-red-or-orange-lenses-block-blue-light-for-sleep-17104

 

 

 

 

Is blue light keeping you up at night? We ask the experts

AM and PM lights for sleep/wake

http://pressroom.gelighting.com/news/ge-redefines-lighting-with-ge-alignTM-lighting-aiding-natural-sleep-cycle#.VvlH6OIrLIU

 

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401620/Do-Orange-Glasses-Block-Blue-Light.html

 

 

Highlight: Consistent checkups are important to eye health

March 25, 2016

This is a great article that points out that it is important to have your eyes checked regularly and that the timing depends on what’s going on with your eyes.  The article makes 2 especially important points about a diagnosis of AMD:

  •  Even though there is no cure yet for AMD,  it’s important to catch it early since there are some ways to slow down the disease.
  • If a person is diagnosed with AMD, it’s a good idea for them to alert their children about it since there is a hereditary component to it.

Click here to read the rest of the article

News: The App That Helps Blind People See

3/21/2016 A video & article about an app called Aipoly Vision which has been tested for object identification.  That means the person points their iPhone or iPad at an object and they will hear the name of it if it’s in the database of 1,000 objects (they’re working to expand that to 5,000 objects).  It uses the iPhone’s built-in accessibility functions.

Click here to learn more about this.  It also talks about another app to read text such as restaurant menus.

The Aipoly Vision app is free from the App Store or iTunes.

News: Apple releases new feature for iPhone that will help people with low vision & others

  • March 2016: Apple just released a new feature for people with low vision & those of us who want to prevent it.  Research shows that blue light from various sources (see below for more info) can adversely affect our vision.  Also, there is some evidence that the blue light from our mobile devices when used at night will make it more difficult to fall asleep.  The new feature called Night Shift allows you to adjust the screen on your iPhone so that it is ‘warmer’.  Read more about it.  You need to update your iPhone’s IOS to at least 9.3 first.

Highlight: Patient monitors vision at home & results are sent to the doctor

Feb. 2016

Here’s a Press Release from Notal Vision, Inc., announcing that Medicare will pay for their ForseeHome telemonitoring system for patients who have dry AMD and who are at a high risk for it developing into wet AMD.

The ForseeHome system allows the patient to test their vision daily at home & the results are sent to their retina specialist for monitoring.

Click here to read more about the product.

Here’s a video showing how it works: ForseeHome AMD monitoring

Highlights: What are telescopic implants?

 

FDA approved.

UK Implant of tiny telescopic lenses

US Implant of telescopic lens for those with advanced stage wet or dry AMD. Candidates have to qualify including no longer be candidates for medications.

CentraSight partners with BrightFocus for research and patient education. CentraSight provides & inserts the telescopic lenses.

Accessibility by WAH