image by: Ben Churchill

HWN Suggests

Blindness

We are told to be strong act “normal”
make the first move
prove we are
just like everyone else

Then, people shout in our face
yank us across a street
ask the person with us
what we’d like to eat

After all the assurances
suggestions
playing down assumptions and
comparisons to other unseeing people

I walk away alone
knowing I am not the only person
who cannot see

Source: Blindness by Valerie Moreno, Vision Thru Words, August 2012.

Valerie Moreno had partial vision until 1999 when it disappeared literally overnight.  Valerie’s eye disease is ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity). …

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Featured

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Acute vision loss can have many etiologies with a large differential. Many of these are time-sensitive, and the emergency physician may improve patient outcome through the consideration of several acute conditions.

 An Innovative Way You Can Help Visually Impaired Aging Parents

As many as 11 million people over 60 have some form of macular degneration. It's an irreversible condition and it can cause gradual and total loss of sight. This could include your own aging parents. Many elders learn to get by, adapt and manage with some kind of help. What if they could just call a number and ask someone to find something for them? Now they can. Yes, there's an app for that.

 The blind and visually impaired can help researchers by getting their genes tested

Blind and partially sighted people no longer have to wait passively for a research breakthrough in hope of treatment options. In fact, people living with genetic eye conditions can now actively drive vision research forward — by enrolling in a patient registry and getting their genes tested. There are 2.2 billion people living with visual impairment globally. Some are living with inherited retinal diseases that are progressive and can lead to complete blindness. Up until recent years, blind and visually impaired people were told that no treatment is available. This is changing as genetic testing is paving the way for a surge of gene therapies.

 The Worst That Could Happen? Going Blind, People Say

When eyesight fails, some people become socially disengaged, leading to isolation and loneliness. Anxiety about a host of issues — falls, medication errors, loss of employment, social blunders — is common.

 Why we lose our hearing and vision as we age

As people age, they often experience a number of changes in their physical, mental and social health. Among these are eye and ear changes, and diseases that usually result in vision and hearing loss. Changes to our eyes and ears occur as a result of disease, genetic factors, “wear and tear” and environmental factors.

 With Some Structure, Stem Cells Might Still Stop Vision Loss

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Articles of Interest

Out of Sight

Today’s Q&A’s will bring together all the different ways the ‘lights can go out’ — don’t forget keep your ultrasound machine handy. Are you ready for the ‘out of sight / loss of vision challenge’?

An App to Aid the Visually Impaired

Research suggests that it is less difficult for those with a limited field of vision to read on backlit screens, and the ability to increase text size, sharpen contrast and set words in motion can make reading easier for the visually impaired. Spotlight Text is a bare-bones reading program, outfitted with scrolling text, adjustable font, sharp contrast and an audio feature that narrates books.

Concocting a Cure for Kids With Issues

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Cracking the Retinal Code

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Does Your Toddler Need Glasses?

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Famous Paintings Can Reveal Visual Disorders

Neural pathologies have shaped great art throughout history.

Glenn Beck - Blind Leading the Blind?

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I'm Gradually Going Blind at 33 Years Old

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The Quest to Create a Bionic Eye Gets Clearer

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What it's like to go blind

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What to Do When You Can’t Read the Fine Print

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Why Small Print Makes Us See Red

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Resources

Be My Eyes

Be My Eyes is a free app that connects blind and low-vision people with sighted volunteers and company representatives for visual assistance through a live video call.

Seeing AI

Seeing AI is a Microsoft research project that brings together the power of the cloud and AI to deliver an intelligent app, designed to help you navigate your day.

Going Blind

Going Blind tells personal and courageous stories of everyday people living and thriving with vision loss in extraordinary ways.

BrightFocus Foundation

BrightFocus Foundation is a nonprofit organization supporting research and providing public education to help eradicate brain and eye diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. We are working to save mind and sight.

Fight for Sight

Since 1946, Fight for Sight has supported and inspired eye and vision research by providing initial funds to promising scientists early in their careers. We are a 501(c)3 charity that provides crucial pilot funding to promising new researchers before they are able to receive grants from governmental sources and large private foundations.

Foundation Fighting Blindness

The urgent mission of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Inc. is to drive the research that will provide preventions, treatments and cures for people affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), macular degeneration, Usher syndrome, and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases.

Prevent Blindness

Founded in 1908, Prevent Blindness is the nation's leading volunteer eye health and safety organization dedicated to fighting blindness and saving sight. Focused on promoting a continuum of vision care, Prevent Blindness touches the lives of millions of people each year.

Second Sense

Second Sense inspires our clients to move beyond vision loss and believe in their abilities. We offer client-centered training in a supportive environment, teaching new skills, building confidence and helping our clients realize their value in our community.

Second Sight

Through dedication and innovation, Second Sight's mission is to develop, manufacture and market implantable visual prosthetics to enable blind individuals to achieve greater independence.

Through Scarlett’s Eyes

I want to provide parents just like me with a hub of information and advice. When Scarlett was first diagnosed all I had available to me was information from the professionals, but I was desperate to actually find out what its like to raise a child with a visual impairment.

Vision Loss Resources

The mission of Vision Loss Resources is to create a community of services, skills and support for people with vision loss.

VisionAware

VisionAware helps adults who are losing their sight continue to live full and independent lives by providing timely information, step-by-step daily living techniques, a directory of national and local services, and a supportive online community.

At the Gateway to Blindness

Stories from a vision-impaired perspective.

Bookshare

Bookshare® opens up the world of reading for people with print disabilities. If you cannot read traditional print books because of a visual impairment, physical disability or severe learning disability, Bookshare can help! Our books are “accessible,” which means you can read our books many different ways.

Fred's Head

The Fred's Head blog contains tips, techniques, tutorials, in-depth articles, and resources for and by blind or visually impaired people. Fred's Head is offered by the American Printing House for the Blind. It was voted best blindness-related blog three years in a row by BlindBargains.com

InfoEyes

InfoEyes is a question-and-answer service provided by professional librarians at braille and talking book libraries to people with visual or other print limitations.

International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness

IAPB’s mission is to eliminate the main causes of avoidable blindness and visual impairment by bringing together governments and non-governmental agencies to facilitate the planning, development and implementation of sustainable national eye care programmes.

Jalapeños in the Oatmeal

Digesting Vision Loss by Jeff Flodin.

Lighthouse Guild

Lighthouse Guild is the leading organization dedicated to addressing and preventing vision loss. We do this by coordinating care for eye health, vision rehabilitation, behavioral health and related services. Our goal is to reduce the burden of living with vision loss, it is the cornerstone of what we do.

Low Vision Support

The mission of Low Vision Support is to promote increased independence among those with visual impairments. This is accomplished through education by making available the latest medical information, community resources and assistance in helping others to share their challenges and solutions to problems with one another and other family members.

Seeing Possibilities

Navigating through life with Vision Loss

Vision Loss and Personal Recovery

Losing vision is very confusing, but there are tips for dealing with social situations and day-to-day life that can help a lot. This website is for you, the person losing vision. You can read or listen to it on your smart phone, or link to it from Facebook.

Vision Through Words

Poetry and Short Essays by Visually Impaired and Blind Writers.