"Low vision" describes any condition of diminished vision that is uncorrectable by standard eyeglasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgery that disrupts a person's ability to perform common age-appropriate visual tasks. Examples of assistive technologies for vision rehabilitation include handheld magnifiers; electronic vision-enhancement…

Demographic projections indicate that the population of the Western world is aging, and evidence suggests an increase in the incidence of conditions, such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), that produce visual impairments and result in low vision (Maberley et al., 2006). It is expected that in the United States and Canada, the annual…

One of the most prevalent visual impairments of people aged 60 and older is age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which ranks third globally as a cause of visual impairment (World Health Organization, 2006). The purpose of this study was to conduct a tentative subjective assessment of eccentric viewing by persons with AMD. The authors recruited…

The Pepper Visual Skills for Reading Test was assessed as a measure of reading ability with meaningful text in 38 adults with macular degeneration; scores were compared with assessment made using the Gray Oral Reading Test, a previously standardized assessment. The test's validity was confirmed. (Author/JDD)

This study, involving 20 children (ages 6-12) with legal blindness or partial sight, explored the relationships between ability to read and performance on tasks which require the manipulation of figure/ground relations. Significant differences were found between fluent readers and poor readers/nonreaders on four of the six tasks. No age…

A study investigated whether the reading difficulties of 60 Dutch children with low vision were a matter of reduced visual input or a consequence of a lack of orthographic knowledge. Results indicated that reduced visual input was the only cause of the children's lower reading performance. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This project examined whether the rehabilitation of reading recognition allowed comprehension of print for 38 low vision adults (ages 37-87) who were former readers. The project developed training strategies for enhancing reading comprehension. The paper concludes that instruction in comprehension has value as part of low vision rehabilitation for…

Discusses variables in the systematic decision-making process for selecting appropriate reading media for students with visual impairments. The article describes a two-phase process for selecting print or braille media. It examines an objective procedure for determining the relative effectiveness of print media, illustrating the procedure with…

This paper used a case study approach to explore the value of an objective procedure to evaluate the relative effectiveness of reading large print and reading regular print with low vision devices for 6 students (ages 8-16) with low vision. Data were collected on oral and silent reading rates, working distance, and oral reading miscues. (Author/DB)