Improving Daily Life for Those with Low Vision

November, 2006
Drs. John A. Child and Gregory T. Bodrie are used to being the court of last resort. Both are optometrists who specialize in treating in low vision, and both have helped people who were told “there’s nothing else we can do for you.”

Usually, they say, that means there is no further treatment that will correct the pathology in the eyes or neurological system. “The patient has a different frame of reference,” says Dr. Child. “The patient wants to know about fundamentals, about driving, reading. That’s where low vision rehabilitation can help.”

Low vision – a serious loss of sight that can’t be corrected medically or surgically – is a growing problem. More than 9,000 Cape residents are visually impaired, says Dr. Child. Nationally, 14 million are afflicted. That number is expected to double by 2020.

In RHCI’s new Low Vision Program, specially trained occupational therapists work collaboratively with Drs. Bodrie and Child. Their goal: to maximize patients’remaining sight while minimizing the impact of their condition on their daily lives.

The Low Vision Program provides:

• Comprehensive evaluation
• Training on a wide variety of optical devices and non-optical aids
• Instruction in adaptive skills to foster independence
• Counseling to enhance adjustment

Typically, eye diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy cause low vision. Stroke and brain injuries can also lead to the need for vision rehabilitation. Symptoms of low vision include hazy or blurred vision, distorted vision, tunnel vision, night blindness, color blindness and loss of central or peripheral vision.

“ We can’t restore patients’ lost vision, but we can work with them in a variety of ways to maximize the vision they have left,” says Julia Rush, an occupational therapist and the program’s lead clinician. “The result can be greater independence and quality of life.”

“ There are hundreds of aids and scores of strategies for coping with low vision,” says Dr. Child. The key is for therapists to design a treatment approach to meet each individual’s specific needs. Do that, he adds, and “you can do nearly everything you did before, perhaps just in a different way.”

Someone doesn’t have to be legally blind to benefit from the service, notes Dr. Bodrie. “Anyone who doesn’t perform daily activities effectively might benefit. There’s amazing technology to repair a detached retina today, but after surgery many of these patients are insecure and not seeing well.”

The program can also help people who have invested in optical devices to no avail. “I’ve had elderly patients come in with bags of optically perfect devices that they were never trained to use,” says Dr. Child. “At RHCI, we’re set up to ensure people have the right devices and to train them in proper use.”

For information or referrals, please call 508-833-4141 or visit the outpatient section of the website. You can also call (508) 833-4141 to request a Low Vision fact sheet.