http://t.co/mvaGtBr0 Know about it, annual checks are a must for people with diabetes.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Posted On: May 14, 2012
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: blind, diabetes, diabetic retinopathy, Disability, low vision, Visual Impairment
Diabetes is a complicated condition that is able to affect many aspects of your health, including your eye sight…
Diabetes is when your body does not produce or use insulin and you end up with high levels of blood glucose. This condition causes complications in the rest of the body which can result in heart disease, stroke, nerve disease, and vision loss.
There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 also known as juvenile diabetes and Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes. A person with Type 1 will be depended on insulin and there is no cure. Type 2 is more common and some people are able to regulate it with diet and exercise, others may need insulin or another medication.
Diabetic retinopathy is an eye disease that is caused by diabetes. All people with diabetes are at risk of diabetic retinopathy but the risk increases with age. Diabetic retinopathy damages the small blood vessels that are on the retina which can affect your central and peripheral vision along with depth perception, color perception and contrast sensitivity. If left untreated the broken blood vessels may leak into the eye, causing the person to seek “spots, flecks or floaters” and can cause total blindness.
Once a person is diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy it is very important for them to see his/her eye doctor on a regular basis to try to regulate the diabetic retinopathy and to watch for other conditions that may arise such as cataracts and/or glaucoma.
Diabetic retinopathy has no warning signs; which is why it is so important to have annual eye doctor appointments with dilated eye evaluations.
If you have questions about diabetic retinopathy or another eye disease, please email me at mandy.smith@rcilinc.org.
Dealing with change
Posted On: March 30, 2012
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: blind, change, eye health, low vision, Visual Impairment
Who really enjoys change? Maybe you enjoy a change of scenery or you enjoy the change of seasons? These are nice changes because you know they aren’t permanent and they are planned.
Unplanned changes usually aren’t enjoyable and are usually permanent (at least until the next change). But change always happens! There is nothing we can do to stop change but there are things we can do so change can be more enjoyable.
Once a change is made around you or you know you must make a change the best thing you can do is get ready for it and adapt to it as fast as possible. This seems so hard at first, but really it will help you in the end be able to enjoy the new.
We have choices in everything that we do. The same goes with change. We can choose to react negatively towards change. We can choose to ignore change. We can choose to embrace change.
If you have ever went through a change at work you may know that ignoring the change will actually result in you changing employment! Reacting negatively to change could also cause hardship in the workplace.
If you have noticed a change in your vision and you choose to ignore it, it could become worse. If you react quickly to the change and visit your eye doctor it is possible that the change could be treated.
Sometimes a change may take a grieving period. We have things and people in our lives that we enjoy (if we didn’t enjoy them, we’d make a change so they weren’t there). So, when a change causes a person or thing to leave our life it can be hard and cause us to grieve. That’s understandable and okay. But the sooner you let go of the past the sooner you can enjoy the future.
The best thing to do when dealing with a difficult change, is talk to someone who has went through the change their self. This could include a co-worker, support group or peer. And think of the 10-10-10 rule… Will this change be hard in 10 days? Will this change be hard in 10 months? Will this change be hard in 10 years? Focus on your future and the change will become the past.
Thank you dog guide trainers
Posted On: March 16, 2012
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: blind, Disability, dog guide, low vision, Visual Impairment
Who doesn’t love a cute face? What about a cute face that has puppy breathe?
I’m sure many of you are familiar with dog guides, but did you know that people/families raise dog guides from puppies to about a year old? Dog guide facilities such as The Seeing Eye, KSDS Inc., Leader Dogs for the Blind and many more send puppies home with people so they can train the dogs just like others. This includes potty training and to be obedient. After the dogs are trained and out of their “puppy” stage the family brings the dog back to the facility where it is then trained to be a guide.
The dogs must pass their training and not have any health issues in order to be a dog guide. If they are unable to perform guide dues or suffer an illness or health issue the person/family who trained it has an option to have the dog. If the person/family does not want the dog, it will then be put up for adoption. The same goes for dog guides who are elderly or are not able to perform their guide duties anymore.
I want to thank the people who train dog guides! How wonderful it must feel to be able to say that you helped train a dog that helps a person live a full and independent life! I want to know how they do it? How hard it must be to have a dog in your life for a year then have to give it up! I do think it’s great that most trainers are able to meet the person who gets the dog at the dog’s graduation. Again, thank you to the people who have such big hearts to help train these dogs to help people with disabilities!
Low Vision Awareness Month
Posted On: February 16, 2012
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: age-related macular degeneration, blind, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, Eye Disease, eye health, Glaucoma, low vision, Visual Impairment
Last month I posted about January being Glaucoma Awareness month. Well, February is Low Vision Awareness month so I’d like to share some knowledge on this topic.
1.) Low vision is a vision loss that makes it difficult to accomplish visual tasks even with the best possible correction, but with the potential for use of available vision, with or without optical or non-optical compensatory visual strategies, devices and environmental modifications.
In other words, even with glasses, contacts, surgery, etc. the person does not have enough vision to do daily tasks. But with use of some tools/skills the person may be able to complete these tasks.
2.) People with low vision may label themselves as blind, legally blind, visually impaired, partially sighted or many other terms.
In order to be deemed legally blind by a doctor, the person’s vision when best corrected (wearing glasses, contacts, after surgery, using medication, etc.) is 20/200 or less or has a visual field of 20 degrees or less. 20/200 means that a person with 20/20 vision can see at 200 feet, that person can see at 20 feet. A visual field of 20 degrees or less can be demonstrated by putting your hand out in front of your face in a fist and only the area blocked by the fist would be visible.
People who are blind can be spilt into two groups – light perception and no light perception. Our society stereotypes that people who are blind only see darkness. This is not true; many can see light, different shades of color, shadows and or shapes.
3.) Low vision devices include everything from computer software, handheld magnifiers, video magnifiers, scanners, binoculars, monocular and many other items.
Most the time, when people think of devices that help people complete daily tasks, they think of high priced electronic equipment. That is not always the case. A rubber band can aid a person in detecting which can of food they are needing out of the cabinet. A raised bump can identify which medication the person needs to take in the morning. A piece of cardboard cut correctly can help a person with low vision fill out a check to pay bills.
Some tasks people do by using mostly their vision, people with low vision have to unlearn using their vision and rely on other senses in order to complete these tasks. One example would be to use your hearing for the beeps while on the elevator instead of watching the number move above the elevator door to know which floor you are on.
4.) The term low vision is very broad and encompasses many people with many different types of vision loss. The most common causes for low vision in the United States included age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy. Most of these diseases do not affect people until they are 45 years or older but that is not always true. There are forms of macular degeneration that affects children, infants can be born with cataracts or glaucoma, and if a person has been diagnosed with diabetes in their early years they can end up with diabetic retinopathy at an early age as well.
Please have your eyes checked annually especially if you are 45 years or older and make sure your eye doctor is checking your eyes for common diseases.
Happy Glaucoma Awareness Month
Posted On: January 2, 2012
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: blind, Eye Disease, eye health, Glaucoma, low vision
With January and the new year here, this is a perfect time to talk about glaucoma. January is National Glaucoma Awareness month so now is the time to book your annual eye appointment.
Glaucoma is the name of a group of diseases that commonly increases internal eye pressure, damages the optic nerve and causes peripheral (side/field) vision loss. Without treatment, glaucoma can cause total blindness and there is no cure for glaucoma so even with treatment vision loss will still occur. Treatment usually involves a prescribed eye drop that lowers the internal eye pressure or that can regulate the fluid entering and exiting the eye.
There are various forms of glaucoma and most of which have no early detection signs or symptoms. Usually people notice a peripheral vision loss as the first sign and by this time there is nothing the eye doctors can do to regain that vision loss. The only way to have glaucoma diagnosed before a vision loss is to have regular eye checks with your optometrist.
Approximately 4 million people in the United States have glaucoma and only half are aware of it. The people who are more at risk include African Americans, Hispanics, diabetics, people with other eye diseases and people who are over the age of 35. (Though, there are also forms of glaucoma that can be present at birth.)
If you fall under the people who are more at risk or are noticing a peripheral vision loss, please make your New Year’s resolution to have an eye exam in 2012.
Low Vision Fair Coming Soon!
Posted On: September 16, 2011
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision, Consumer Education, Consumer Opportunities
Tagged: blind, consumer opportunity, Disability, Eye Disease, Glaucoma, Visual Impairment
Do you have questions about low vision? Have you noticed you don’t see like you used to? Have you been diagnosed with low vision and want to see what’s out there to help?
Come to our low vision fair to hear Dr. David Nelson explain low vision and low vision exams, find out what assistive technology is available and learn what services are available in your own home.
The Low Vision Fair will be held on Wednesday September 21 from 1:00pm-5:00pm at the Resource Center for Independent Living office in Topeka. 519 SW 37th Topeka, Ks 66611.
If you have questions please contact Mandy Smith by phone at 785-528-3105.
The Low Vision Fair is brought to you by Dr. David Nelson, OD, Assistive Technology for Kansans, ikan, and RCIL.
First week of Cane class
Posted On: June 3, 2011
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: blind, Orientation and Mobility, Visual Impairment, white cane
As I’ve said before I am studying to become an Orientation and Mobility Specialist. This requires nine 3 hour courses through Texas Tech Univeristy (where I’m at right now) and two of those classes are white cane technique classes.
My first class started on June 1st and we didn’t touch the canes much at all except to modify them. We are using a rigid Typhlocane with a crook handle. It has a grip that can be related to a golf club grip but has one flat side on it. We cut them to the correct length by measuring it from the ground to our sternum. I then found out that you put the white reflective tape on it (it’s made out of aluminum) which is much harder than it sounds to do it without getting any wrinkles or tears! We also put on red reflective tape on the bottom which I did my in strips so I could identify my cane from the other students.
The next day we started using our canes more and learned how to go up and down stairs using it. While my instructor and partner were outside during a lesson I was sitting in a lounge area on the campus with my Mindfold on and holding my cane. I heard some students in the hallway beside me whispering something and start giggling. I smiled! I didn’t care if they were laughing at me because I know what I’m doing and I LOVE what I’m doing. In a couple of weeks I’m going to have the skills to instruct another person how to grip his/her cane to travel somewhere!
I have really enjoyed the first three days of class and I’m looking forward to the next four weeks to enhance my skills!
To be continued…
Thought you were blind?
Posted On: May 24, 2011
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: blind, Disability, stereotypes, Visual Impairment
How many times have you heard someone who is not blind say “I’m blind as a bat” or “I can’t see anything without my glasses.” We know this isn’t true, but to that person, it may feel like he or she has little vision without their correction (eye glasses, contacts).
Blindness is a functional defect of part of the eye, optic nerve (moves information from the eye to the brain), or the brain that causes the inability to see.
The terms blind and blindness have been modified in our society to include a wide range of visual impairments. Also, a person who has a visual impairment but is not by definition blind may label themselves blind.
Visual impairments can be broken down into three categories:
Blind – A person may see only darkness or the person may have some light perception
Legally Blind – The person with best correction (i.e. eye glasses, contacts) has a visual acuity* of 20/200 or less or a visual field* of 20 degrees or less in the better seeing-eye
Severe Visual Impairment – The person has a vision deficit that affects his/her life but does not fit under legally blind.
The term low vision is used often and can refer to individuals who are legally blind or have a severe visual impairment.
*Visual acuity – A measurement of the eye’s ability to distinguish object details and shape using the smallest identifiable object that can be seen at a specified distance. 20/200 can be described as what a person with 20/20 vision sees at 200 feet, the person with 20/200 would see at 20 feet.
*Visual field – The measurement in degrees of the area visible to an eye while fixating straight ahead. A person who has low vision may see better during certain parts of the day or while doing certain tasks.
It would not be uncommon to see a man (or woman) using a white cane to enter a restaurant, find his seat and then read the menu. Maybe his eye condition affects his peripheral (side) vision so it is hard for him to see obstacles such as light poles, door frames, etc. but his center/detailed vision still allows him to read. The opposite could happen as well. A lady may walk into the restaurant without a white cane, find her seat without issue, and then ask the wait staff to read her the menu.
Sometimes stereotypes play in our heads and we believe that all people with a certain characterist are just alike and that is far from true. Just remember that when you see someone with a white cane it doesn’t mean they can’t see you.
“Doggone” Cataracts
Posted On: April 13, 2011
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: dog, Eye Disease, pet
It’s been said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but can an old dog see new again?
A lady told me her service dog was going in for cataract surgery on Monday! “WOW” was about all I could say! I know that on humans, cataract surgery is one of the most common surgeries, and through technology, it has a fairly quick recovery time. But on a dog?
First off, Cataracts is a disease that affects the lens in your eye. The lens is a clear object in the eye that is curved on both sides. The light goes through the lens, and the curve of the lens bends the light to hit the back of the retina, which then sends the light to the brain where we put images together. A cataract causes the lens to become opaque or cloudy which impairs or changes how the light goes through. A person (or dog) can have Cataracts in one eye or both.
The owner of the dog said her dog had several tests ran, which included one to see how well her tear ducts worked. This is done by placing test strips of paper on the eye balls (after they have been numbed). They also tested the dog to see if it was likely to get Glaucoma.
After hearing this story, I did what seemed natural…I Googled it! Cataracts in dogs can have multiple causes including heredity, diabetes, toxic reaction in the lens, trauma, age-related reasons and many more. As for humans, Cataracts are mostly age-related and are more common in women than men. Some risk factors for Cataracts include diabetes, smoking and alcohol abuse, prolonged exposure to sunlight and radiation, steroid use, obesity, and poor diet. Once a lens has Cataracts there is no way to “clean” or get rid of the color.
Surgery is an option for some dogs and most people. The surgery consists of making a small incision on the eye, removing the “dirty lens” and replacing it with an artificial one. Usually dogs will have both eyes done at once, especially if they are diabetic. After the surgery, the dog will need eye drops to make sure it heals properly as well as regular check-ups with the vet and eye surgeon. Cataract surgery does not guarantee the dog (or human) will have the same vision it had before the Cataracts. Most dogs (and people) have a major improvement, but scarring does occur during the surgery and could affect the dog’s vision as well.
Only an eye doctor can say whether the dog would benefit from the surgery. In deciding whether to perform the surgery, the eye doctor considers the overall health of the dog and the pros and cons. (If you are thinking about Cataract surgery for your dog, just a warning–it is very pricey!)
Make sure you are getting not only your eyes checked every year but also your Pup’s!
That’s my job
Posted On: April 6, 2011
Categorized: Blind and Low Vision
Tagged: blind, low vision, Orientation and Mobility, Visual Impairment
I met with someone who was recently diagnosed with the eye condition, Age-Related Macular Degeneration. I asked her if it was the wet or dry type. She responded, “I don’t know.” I explained to her that with wet macular degeneration, the macula on the back wall of your eye swells up and causes your acute, detailed vision (what you use to read) to become blurry. It also allows new blood vessels to grow that are weak and leak blood into the center of the eye. Dry macular degeneration does not have the blood vessels that grow. She replied, “Well, he (her eye doctor) didn’t say.”
If a doctor comes in and says you have a certain eye disease, but doesn’t explain how it affects or will affect your vision, that can be scary. Orientation and Mobility Specialists can explain an eye condition in terms that regular people (not doctors) understand and also how it could affect your vision.
Orientation and Mobility Specialists can also help you learn what equipment is out there that could help you use what remaining vision you have. There are thousands of magnifiers and other assistive technology equipment and software out there that could help a person. But only if they know about it.
Orientation and Mobility Specialists also teach individuals with vision loss techniques that enable them to travel safely, efficently and independently.
I was told the other day that I know enough about eye diseases that I should become an eye doctor. That isn’t true. I know enough about eye diseases to turn large words I can’t pronounce into smaller words that make sense to the average person. That’s my job.