Making Adjustments

OE Agrees With AAO Advice

Sep 27, 2019

OE Agrees With AAO Advice

With a nod to Healthy Aging Month, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) published a series of tips for living better with low vision.  They point out that the number of older Americans with low vision will likely double by 2050.  The leading causes of low vision, a visual impairment that cannot be corrected by lenses or medical treatment, are age-related macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma and inherited retinal diseases.  To add insult to injury, most people with declining vision believe that nothing can be done to help them.

We are pleased to stand in agreement with AAO’s recommendations for maintaining a productive and independent life in the face of vision loss.  Subscribers to OEPatients.org are ahead of the curve and already aware and implementing the small changes that keep them actively engaged.  Let’s walk together through an overview of how their tips concur with our content.

 

  • Improve Contrast

Utilize contrasting colors throughout the home to improve clarity in table settings, kitchen tools and surfaces, furnishings, door frames and steps. 

OE:  Nate’s Low Vision Makeover

OE:  Adjusting Your Home For Vision Loss

 

  • Prevent Falls, Improve Lighting

Add lighting to hallways and staircases, task lighting in the kitchen and work places.

OE:  Don’t Take The Fall, Prevent It

OE:  Home Safety & Light Checkup

 

  • Reduce Clutter & Organize

Essential to safety and sanity, keep things in their appropriate places and don’t be a collector.

OE:  Low Vision Awareness: Time To Get Organized

OE:  Spring Cleaning Gives More Than It Takes

 

Headphone on a side stack of books.

Headphone on a side stack of books.

  • Embrace Technology

Audiobooks and voice assistants like Alexa & Google are enormously helpful and easy to adopt.

OE:  Get Back The Joy Of Reading With NLS

OE:  Alexa, Read My Book

OE:  Event Recap: Siri, Google & Alexa

 

Man using IrisVision technology.

  • See Ophthalmologist & Low Vision Specialist

The doctors can help patients maximize remaining vision.

OE:  Event Recap: Electronic Glasses

OE:  Magnifiers Are A Must

OE:  Be An Informed Patient

 

  • Vision Rehab

Often this suggestion comes as a last resort for patients with advanced vision loss.  It usually requires legal blindness to qualify for vision rehabilitation services, but it is most effective when included early in the process.  Making incremental changes at every stage helps to dramatically ease the adjustment. Attempting to recover once the vision loss is severe, is far more difficult. 

AAO:  Low Vision Rehabilitation Services

 

Read the AAO News Release that inspired our post:

More Older Americans Will Suffer From Low Vision,Here’s How to Make Life Easier and Safer

Happy senior friends drinking tea at a table.

 

For comments, questions or feedback, email us, or connect on Facebook or Twitter. We would love to hear from you!


About the Author: Dorrie Rush

Dorrie Rush is the Chief Content Officer and Visual Accessibility Expert at Ophthalmic Edge Patients (OE Patients), an online resource, presented by the Association for Macular Diseases, providing practical information and empowering advice for living a full and successful life with vision loss.

She is the former Director of the Grunwald Technology Center and Information Resource Service at Lighthouse International 2001 to 2016. Dorrie is known to have an eccentric view, which is particularly useful in compensating for her central vision loss from Stargardt Disease.

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