so when i'm in the eye clinic i hear a lot of my patients say things like "doc my eyes are so
bad that i'd be legally blind without my glasses" but that's not what legal blindness really means
and i know people think that if they went blind it would be like having the lights
turned off in a room and they'd be just left in darkness all day but in reality
about 80 percent of people with legal blindness still have some form of usable vision.
So what does it mean to be blind versus legally blind?Well in honor of world sight
day today we're talking about what is legal blindness, showing how people with low vision
may still see and experience their world as well as highlighting some of the new tools
and technologies that help people who are living with vision loss let's take a look
This video is made possible with support from the Orcam my eye the world's most advanced assistive
technology device for visual impairment hello and welcome this is Dr. Allen here from the Doctor Eye
Health show and on this channel we post a lot about education regarding eye diseases their
treatments vision products is pretty much everything regarding to eyesight and that
includes talking about vision loss and blindness so what is legal blindness well in most countries
in the world including here in the united states there is a legal definition that constitutes
what legal blindness is legal blindness is when somebody has central visual acuity meaning their
central vision what is straight ahead of them is 20/200 or less in his or hers better seeing eye
with correction that means even with the best pair of glasses the best contacts or surgery the very
best they can see is 20/200 or worse just for example in comparison if somebody is sitting in
the exam room here and they're looking at the chart on the wall this is what a 20/20 letter
would look like but 20/200 is this size that is a big difference and again with legal blindness that
means you can't see any better than that with any pair of glasses contacts anything so for somebody
like myself who without my glasses of contacts on i know i can't see even a 20/400 letter which
is twice as bad as the 20/200 but the fact that i can put my glasses on and i can see 20/20 in 20/15
even that means i do not have legal blindness because my vision can be corrected but there is
another part of the definition of legal blindness and that has to do with somebody's side vision
meaning if somebody's ability to see off to their far sides is reduced then they may also have legal
blindness the standard definition typically talks about if somebody even if they can see really well
they can see 20/20 letters straight ahead of them but their peripheral vision is only 20 degrees
or less then they also fit the definition of legal blindness you can even try at home closing an eye
and covering an eye with a little hand like this just looking through a tiny little pinhole
and yeah i can't imagine moving around and trying to get through my day like that it is
just not easy to say the least and i like that the definition addresses both acuity and the
visual field because with different types of eye conditions it can be challenging to understand
how some people with vision loss can still see some things but still not see other things and
i think it's tough because a lot of us do think of blindness as again having the lights shut off
but for most eye diseases because it hits the eye in different ways it also presents
with different types of vision loss just for example like somebody with macular degeneration
these individuals will lose their central vision so looking straight ahead of them
is very difficult making it hard for them to read or recognize families faces but it also
leaves some of their peripheral vision where you can contrast to somebody who has glaucoma
where those individuals usually still keep some of their central vision but they lose their
peripheral vision and it slowly becomes more and more into eventually they just have like a tunnel
vision effect other common conditions such as diabetic retinopathy those individuals not only
have usually very blurred vision but they can also have complete blank spots either in part
or covering their entire visual field or with the condition of cataracts which thankfully is
an easily treatable condition with surgery these days but still across globally it is one of the
most common causes of blindness and this can cause not only extremely blurred vision but it can cause
foggy and glare-type eyesight changes that can be really debilitating and then different eye and
brain injuries as well as other genetic conditions can cause major sources of vision loss as well
interestingly enough here in the eye clinic we don't label people as being blind we first try to
measure even an extreme vision loss if they're able to detect motion so we may
measure it as being hand motion at five feet or we'll go as far as detecting if somebody can have
light perception so even though if they can't see my hand moving they can at least say that
they're able to detect light in a dark room and we'll note that as having LP for light perception
and when somebody truly is blind and they cannot see anything we note that as having nlp
no light perception and i always thought that that would make probably the best vanity plate
to have on your car license plate would be to have NLP-OU which would be i care terms for no light
perception in both eyes nobody except for people who work in eye clinic would probably get that
but I just i just think it's funny and that's my sense of humor now dealing with vision loss is
really difficult for either yourself if you ever have to go through this or maybe a family member
it can be scary and a lot of people even feel very just hopeless about their eyesight and
what their future holds for them but thankfully there are whole sub-specialties in eye care and
other services that are completely dedicated to helping people with vision loss low vision
and legal blindness low vision specialists eye doctors and therapists really work together to
help not only prescribe magnifiers and other vision aids but also with rehabilitation
to help people really navigate the world around them and become as independent as possible in
functioning in their world and if you a friend or a family member is kind of facing vision loss
right now for any reason and you're just not sure where to start to find these sort of
helpful services at the very least i'll put some links in the description below so that you can
find those and at least begin your journey and with low vision and services for the blind the
earlier people get introduced to these services this help the better it is because if you're just
starting to lose vision it's easier to learn and adapt new technologies techniques and everything
to really adjust to kind of how your future may be historically eye doctors in the field of low
vision are really masters at understanding optics and figuring the right amount of magnification and
how to use those magnifying aids to help people maximize what little vision they still have left
but thankfully in this world of modern technology that we have we're starting to see
new tools that go well beyond just magnification to help people see and function for example
probably the number one thing i hear people with vision loss and legal blindness request that they
wish they could do is that of reading which is where new technology such as the Orcam my eye
comes in and Orcam is the sponsor of today's video but i wanted to work with them in this because i
find their technology can help so many people that are facing vision loss and i really just want to
bring their technology to people's attention the or chem my eye is a device that helps people
with low vision no vision and even people with reading disabilities like dyslexia be able to read
from books magazines computer screens or really just almost anything the device only weighs about
an ounce it's about the size of your finger and it attaches to pretty much any pair of glasses
and the digital camera on the device is able to take a snapshot of its surroundings and read
directly to you speaking the text directly to your ears or wirelessly to headphones or even
like a bluetooth speaker it can even recognize objects and people's faces Dr Allen i've actually
been testing out the Orcam MyEye myself and it is something that i even recommend or bring up to my
patients in the clinic who would benefit from it particularly people who struggle with or have a
desire for more independence with reading but i will say it is pretty amazing and impressive to
see where technology is today and to think about where it could be going to in the future for
not just people who still have good eyesight but especially for people who may be struggling with
their vision and again if you want to check out more information about the Orcam MyEye
i'll put links in the video description below so you can check out their website and learn a little
bit more but i do find it amazing to reflect back and just be grateful for things as simple
as eyeglasses because without these technologies of glasses or the existence of previous eye care
professionals that came before me where would we be because again without these technologies
many of us would be legally blind so do me and yourself a favor today in honor of world sight day
reflect on just being grateful for the eyesight that you do have for your ability to perceive
colors and light and if you and your family have not had eye exams within the last year i strongly
encourage you to schedule one to get your eyes checked even if you think your vision is fantastic
again there are many eye diseases out there that sneak up on you and you don't realize your vision
is changing until it's too late i always keep reminding myself that even though making this
channel and making these videos is a lot of work i figure if i can just help one person in the world
save their vision or see a little bit better then it's all worth it otherwise i hope you enjoyed
this video if you did and it helped you out hit the like button for us subscribe to the channel
if you want to keep learning about eyesight and keeping your eyes healthy otherwise again this
is Doctor Allen here from the DoctorEyeHealth show keep an eye on it and we'll see in the next one.