Coping With LowVision: Tips AndTools @ (NAPSA)—Having trouble doing close-up tasks, recognizing familiar faces or reading signs? You’re not alone. Low vision, which is characterized by partial sight and legal blindness,affects 6 million Americans. It is a visual impairment not correctable by surgery, pharmaceuticals, contact lenses or traditional eyeglasses. To help those living with low vision regain their sight and independence, The Vision Council suggests the following tips and tools: Magnifiers, available in various sizes and designs, allow users to see objects up close and far away. New magnifiers can provide additionallight or digital imaging. Telescopes, handheld or head-worn, improve sight at a variety of distances. Newer devices auto-focus and come with a portable control and battery. Low vision-specific eyeglasses are designed to improvesight near, far and in between. These include mirrors and prismatic devices that move imagesto the area of the eye with the best vision. Closed-circuit TV (CCTV) consists of a monitor and video camera that allow users to enlarge and position an image on a moveable table until it’s large enoughto be read on a monitor. Nonoptical aids such as large print or talking clocks, phones and TV remotes, color-coded organizers and containers and checkwriting and signature guides are also helpful. Early detection is critical to determine treatment that can slow or stop the progression of low vision-causing eye diseases, so make an appointment to see an eye doctor today. To learn more or find an eye doctor in your area, visit www.thevisioncouncil.org.
