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Low Vision Rehabilitation: What is It?

November 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment

If you or a loved one is experiencing any type of vision difficulties ranging in impaired vision, legal blindness or even total blindness, it can be very frustrating. A lot of people do not realize what is out there that can help make life for the visually impaired a lot easier.

That is why there are low vision rehabilitation centers all over the place. When a person uses the word rehabilitation a person will normally think of a drug or alcohol rehab center but in this case it is nothing like that. At low vision rehabilitation centers they take the person who is suffering from low vision and work to help them out.

They do a thorough screening on the eyes to assess the level of sight as well as observe the person in a new setting. They see what type of devices and objects the person could use to make their life a lot easier.

At low vision rehabilitation centers a person will work with the person with low vision one on one and make various suggestions on how their life could be improved. These could be from finding special lamps that provide intense light for certain areas in the house, large text books that can be read, magnifying glasses and such for smaller print.

These low vision rehabilitation centers can also help on a larger scale also. They can work with the person and help them find resources, government grants and other community aids that allow them to seek funding for various objects that the person may need. In some cases they might recommend taking Braille classes and learning how to read with that. If that were the case they could set the person up with various Braille schools and centers around the area where the person will be able to learn how to read with it.

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Filed Under: Blindness, Braille Tagged With: , ,

Things to Say and Not Say to Visually Impaired People

October 30, 2010 by Leave a Comment

When people get awkward they sometimes will say things that they didn’t mean or have words come out that weren’t intended to offend do in fact offend. When you are around someone who has a disability such as being legally blind or blind, it can be hard to know exactly how to act. Unless you’ve grown up with someone like this it can be a bit hard to adjust, know how to treat them and other things.

Here are a few things that you should do around a visually impaired person and a few things that you shouldn’t do around a visually impaired person.

Act like they are human. You don’t need to shout, scream or baby the person. If you feel the need to ask them if they need help, do so but don’t be surprised if they say they don’t need help or want it. Just treat them like any other person you would be friends with.

Don’t Ask Can You See This. Inquire about what the person can see or can’t and any limitations that might come up while being around them. Don’t keep walking up to items or objects and asking if they can or can’t see things that are around them.

Comfort and Support. You should show comfort and support to the person. Just let them know that you are around should they need anything but if not then you still will be there when and if they need help.

Follow Their Lead. It is a good idea to follow the person’s lead on how to treat them. Some people don’t take offense to being asked for help and in fact like to have people help them whenever they can. Others find it offensive and believe that it is a major insult to ask for help. Just observe and follow what the person does or doesn’t do.

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Filed Under: Blindness, Braille Tagged With: , ,

The Advancement of Braille Over the Years

October 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Braille was first introduced to students who had visual impairments in the early 1800s. It was used as a system with small raised dots so that they could read and write to each other and not have to miss out on various aspects of life.

Braille is an ability for those who are visually impaired to read and write and engage in various activities that are cultural and fun in aspects.

Since that time period the braille system has taken a major turn and in some cases a turn for the better.

Here is a look at some of the advancements of Braille over the past few years or centuries.

Braille originally started as a written form of communication in French has now turned into a communication system in several different languages. At the moment there are forms of braille for Chinese, Japanese, English, Spanish and a number of other languages.

Braille is now also used in musical annotations and mathematics. These were not around when the first system of braille came out and have since developed the way that braille is being used today. Visually impaired people can now play musical instruments or even complete math problems that they didn’t have access to a number of years ago.

Braille can be found on various board games, playing cards, written texts, bibles and other types of reading material. There are very few types of items that don’t come in braille.

Braille is now being taught as a form of community enrichment when a person faces visual impairments. It used to be that in order to study Braille you were sent off to a school for the blind and that was an issue for many people. Now braille is taught as parts of school systems and community service projects for those that are suffering from visual impairments.

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Filed Under: Blindness, Braille Tagged With: , ,
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