Low Vision Therapy
Losing vision doesn’t mean giving up your activities, but it may mean learning new ways of doing them. St. Claire offers low vision rehabilitation to patients whose vision limits their ability to complete everyday activities and cannot be fully corrected by lenses, medical intervention, or surgery. We treat individuals with a variety of congenital and acquired visual challenges from advancing age and vision loss from macular degeneration, diabetes, glaucoma, trauma, and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.
Our licensed occupational therapists have special training in low vision to help patients develop skills and strategies to overcome the challenges of vision loss. Therapists will develop a personalized therapy program based on the patient's specific needs which focuses on daily functional activities such as reading, self-care, home management tasks (meal preparation, bill paying, and so on), and leisure activities.
The goal of low vision therapy is to help patients regain as much independent functioning as possible by using their remaining vision and, when appropriate, by training them to use adaptive techniques or devices.
Therapists will complete an evaluation of the patients' home environment to indentify potential hazards and maxmize independence. Patients can also expect instruction on:
- Prescribed optical, magnifying, and field enhancing devices
- Compensatory strategies that will aid in their ability to perform occupational tasks
- Assistive technology such as iPads, smartphones, recorders, and magnifiers
- Ways to adapt to contrast sensitivity and identifying appropriate lighting
- Visual perceptual skills (spatial awareness, visual figure ground, and visual closure)
- Sight guide techniques
- Community re-integration training to maintain previous level of lifestyle (shopping, attending sporting events, dining out, participating in church activities, etc.)
We prefer that patients have established care under an optometrist and/or ophthalmologist prior to initiating low vision rehabilitation. Ask your provider for a referral to St. Claire Occupational Therapy for low vision rehabilitation.
Contact us at 606.780.5516 at St. Claire Medical Pavilion for further information.
