Borderline Legally Blind

Normal vision is 20/20. This means you can clearly see an object 20 feet away. If you are legally blind, your vision is 20/200 or less in your best eye or your field of vision is less than 20 degrees. That said, if an object is 200 feet away, you`ll need to stand 20 feet away from it to see it clearly. But a person with normal vision can stand 200 feet away and see this object perfectly. “These probably serve as a retreat,” Strasburger told the neuroscientific website Brain Decoder. “In particularly emotionally intense situations, the patient sometimes feels the desire to become blind and therefore not to `have to see.`” To be considered legally blind, you must meet one of the two criteria of visual acuity (visual acuity) and field of vision (the full range of what you can see without moving your eyes). According to the American Foundation for the Blind, the legal blind is not the same as completely blind, which is used to describe the inability to see anything with both eyes. Most legally blind people have some vision. If you are classified as legally blind, you cannot drive in any state. Talk to your doctor about your concerns. Striem-Amit E, Guendelman M, Amedi A.

“Visual” sharpness of the congenital blind person by means of visual-auditory sensory substitution. PLoS one. 2012;7(3):E33136. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0033136 To understand what happened to B.T. (identified in the journal article only by his initials), his doctors, German psychologists Hans Strasburger and Bruno Waldvogel, returned to his first diagnosis of cortical blindness. Her medical records from that time show that she underwent a series of eye tests — using lasers, special glasses, bright lights in a room — all of which showed her apparent blindness. Since there was no damage to his eyes themselves, it was thought that B.T.`s vision problems must have been due to brain damage caused by his accident (the report does not say what exactly happened in the accident). Several non-governmental organizations can help people with legal blindness lead more normal lives, even with severe visual impairment.

Although some people become legally blind after an accident, several eye conditions can also lead to legal blindness and other visual disturbances. If you learn that you are legally blind, organizations like the American Foundation for the Blind can help. They have programs to help you cope with the physical and emotional effects of vision loss. Methods: Patients diagnosed with NTG between 1985 and 2007 at Gifu University Hospital (n =382) were followed for at least 5 years on standard ophthalmological treatment. Data collected included best corrected visual acuity (AVCC), intraocular pressure (IOP) and visual field condition. Blindness has been defined as BCVA of <20/400 or a narrowing of the central visual field to <10° according to the criteria of the World Health Organization. Analysis of the Kaplan-Meier life table was used to estimate the probability of progression to blindness in one or both eyes. An estimated 1.1 million Americans are legally blind. Certain conditions, such as glaucoma, cataracts, diabetes, and macular degeneration, can affect your vision to the point where you can be diagnosed with the disease. The U.S. Social Security Administration provides benefits to legally blind individuals. States and federal tax authorities also allow certain tax deductions.

Between 2 and 3 million people in the United States suffer from glaucoma, and about 120,000 of them are legally blind as a result. The risk of glaucoma increases significantly with age, but can affect any age group, even newborns and fetuses. It is important that your eyes are checked annually to maintain optimal vision and eye health. Early diagnosis of glaucoma is crucial to stop the progression of the disease and prevent total vision loss. For more information or to have an eye exam with Dr. Saland in Dallas, contact Saland Vision at 214-691-8000 or on the website today. Four major causes of legal blindness in the United States are: Thurston, M., Thirston, A., and Mcleod, J. (2010). Socio-emotional effects of the transition from vision to blindness. Br.

J. Vis. Impairment 28, 90–112. doi: 10.1177/0264619609359304 visual impairment, blindness cases in the United States are expected to double by 2050. National Institutes of Health. May 2016. An explanation that B.T. was “malinger” or lied about his disability was refuted by an EEG test. When B.T. was in her two blind states, her brain showed none of the electrical responses to visual stimuli that sighted people would show – even if B.T.`s eyes were open and she looked at them directly.

Some people may read a small series of letters on a vision board, but cannot see the person standing next to them without turning their heads. This describes legal blindness due to poor peripheral vision. You`ll be surprised to learn that it`s Uncle Sam, not the doctor, who defines whether you`re legally blind. If you are completely blind, you cannot see any light or shape. Among people with eye diseases, only about 15% cannot see anything at all. If you`re legally blind, you can still see – but not so clearly. Being legally blind affects your eyesight, but it shouldn`t stop you from living a busy life. Treatments for legal blindness vary depending on the cause and stage of the disease.

Age-related eye conditions are usually prescription drugs or eye procedures to try to delay vision or prevent it from getting worse. Hadidi, M. S., and Al Khateeb, J. M. (2013). Loneliness among blind and sighted students in Jordan: a short report. Int. J. Disabil. Dev. Educ. 60, 167–172.

doi: 10.1080/1034912X.2012.723949 Legal blindness is different from total blindness, which describes the complete loss of any perception of visual light. Most legally blind people can still see the light, but the objects in their vision are very blurry. Glaucoma is generally considered a slow-progressing eye disease. In the most common form of glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma, damage to retinal cells occurs quite slowly. Untreated glaucoma can lead to blindness within a few years. Instead, Waldvogel and Strasburger believe that B.T.`s blindness is pyschogen (more psychological than physical). Something happened – perhaps in connection with his accident – that made his body react by disabling his ability to see. Even today, two of their identities maintain this coping mechanism. A legally blind person with 20/200 vision (with the best corrective lenses) should be 20 feet away from an object to see it, and someone with 20/20 vision could see it 200 feet away.