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Please add the profiles of those who are or had visual impairment or blindness
Vision function is classified in 4 broad categories, according to the International Classification of Diseases -10 (Update and Revision 2006):
- normal vision
- moderate vision impairment
- severe vision impairment
- blindness - Total blindness is the complete lack of form and light perception and is clinically recorded as "NLP," an abbreviation for "no light perception.
Moderate vision impairment combined with severe vision impairment are grouped under the term “low vision”: low vision taken together with blindness represents all vision impairment.
Low vision is usually caused by eye diseases or health conditions. Some of these include age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, diabetes, and glaucoma. Eye injuries and birth defects are some other causes.
- Vision impairment (VI) is defined as having 20/40 or worse vision in the better eye even with eyeglasses. However, people with the slightest VI can experience challenges in their daily activities.
- For example, people with vision less than 20/40 cannot obtain an unrestricted driver’s license in most states.
- Whatever the cause, lost vision cannot be restored, but it can be managed with proper treatment and vision rehabilitation.
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.
- Blindness is a severe vision impairment, not correctable by standard glasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery. It interferes with a person’s ability to perform everyday activities.
- “Legal blindness” is defined as vision with best correction in the better eye worse than or equal to 20/200 or a visual field of less than 20 degrees in diameter.
- “Legal blindness” is significant in determining eligibility for disability benefits from the federal government, but it does not reflect the precise functional impairment and disability.
Questions to ask if you suspect low vision, even when wearing glasses or other corrective lenses, as these are early warning signs of vision loss or eye disease:
- Do you recognize the faces of family & friends?
- Are you able to read, cook, sew, or fix things around the house?
- Are you able to select & match the color of your clothes?
- Are you able to read traffic signs or names of stores?
The sooner vision loss or eye disease is detected by an eye care professional, the greater your chances of keeping your remaining vision.
- Visit your eye care professional regularly for a comprehensive dilated eye exam. However, if you notice changes to your eyes or eyesight, visit your eye care professional right away!
Key facts:
- An estimated 253 million people live with vision impairment: 36 million are blind and 217 million have moderate to severe vision impairment.
- 81% of people who are blind or have moderate or severe vision impairment are aged 50 years and above.
- Globally, chronic eye diseases are the main cause of vision loss. Uncorrected refractive errors and then un-operated cataract are the top two causes of vision impairment. Un-operated cataract remains the leading cause of blindness in low- and middle-income countries.
- The prevalence of infectious eye diseases, such as trachoma and onchocerciasis, have reduced significantly over the last 25 years.
In order to determine which people may need special assistance because of their visual disabilities, various governmental jurisdictions have formulated more complex definitions referred to as legal blindness.
Eye injuries, most often occurring in people under 30, are the leading cause of monocular blindness (vision loss in one eye).
Visually impaired and blind people have devised a number of techniques that allow them to complete daily activities using their remaining senses.
Recent access technology such as screen reading software enable the blind to use mainstream computer applications including the Internet.
The causes of visual impairment & Blindness:
The leading causes of low vision and blindness in the United States are age-related eye diseases: macular degeneration, cataract and glaucoma. Other eye disorders, eye injuries, and birth defects can also cause vision loss.
- According to recent estimates, the major global causes of moderate to severe vision impairment are:
- uncorrected refractive errors, 53%
- un-operated cataract, 25%
- age-related macular degeneration 4%
- glaucoma, 2%
- diabetic retinopathy 1%.
- The major causes of blindness are:
- un-operated cataract 35 %
- uncorrected refractive error 21 %
- glaucoma 8 %.
Statistics:
- Globally, more than 80% of all vision impairment can be prevented or cured.
- It is estimated that the number of people with vision impairment could triple due to population growth and aging. For example, by 2050 there could be 115 million people who are blind, up from 38.5 million in 2020.
- In children below age 15 an estimated 19 million children are vision impaired. Of these, 12 million children have a vision impairment due to refractive error. Around 1.4 million have irreversible blindness, requiring access to vision rehabilitation services to optimize functioning and reduce disability.
Notables Blind or with Visual Impairments:
- Teaching Students with Visual Impairments - Notable People with Visual Impairments. By Carmen Willings
- Disabled World - Famous Blind and Vision Impaired. updated 12/22/2017
- Ranker - Famous Blind People (28 listed)
- Wikipedia - List of blind People
- Homer ( ) - is generally thought to be the author of epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey was believed to have been blind.
- Arnolt Schlick (1460-1521) - German organist, lutenist & composer; was blind for much of his life. Schlick is best known for his publication of the book Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten in 1511, the first treatise on building and playing organs written in German.
- Ray Charles (1930-2004) - Singer; completely blind by age of seven
- Helen Keller (1880-1968) - American Author, Activist and Lecturer
- Andrea Bocelli (1958) - Italian singer; was born with poor eyesight and became completely blind at age 12, following a football accident
- Stevie Wonder (1950) - American singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist; has been blind since shortly after birth
- Louis Braille (1809-1852) - French educator & inventor of a system of reading & writing for use by the blind or visually impaired
- Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - Author
- Art Tatum (1909-1956) - Musician; limited vision at birth; was assaulted at 20 resulting in complete blindness
- Bob C Riley (1924-1994) - Politician; lost left eye during WWII & lost all sight in right eye.
- Jeff Healey (1966-2008) - Canadian musician; eyes removed at age one due to cancer; (Wikipedia - Jeff Healey
- Thomas Gore (1870-1949) - American politician; blind due to a couple of childhood accidents
- Dana Elcar (1927-2005) - American actor; became blind later in life due to glaucoma. (cause of death: pneumonia); Wikipedia - Dana Elcar