Low vision

Low vision is a bilateral impairment to vision that significantly impairs the functioning of the individual and cannot be adequately corrected with medical, surgical, therapy, conventional eyewear, or contact lenses. It is often a loss of sharpness or acuity but may present as a loss of field of vision, light sensitivity, distorted vision, or loss of contrast. Low vision may occur as a result of birth defects, injury, the aging process, or as a complication of disease. Low vision services do not cure the cause of the vision problem but rather utilize the remaining vision to its fullest potential. Low vision doctors prescribe prescription eyewear, filters, microscopic - telescopic eyewear, magnifiers, adaptive equipment, closed circuit television systems, independent living devices; provide training; and counsel patients.

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Services and Programs

Family Outreach Center
Disability-specific programs associated with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center and other organizations at Vanderbilt provide a broad range of treatment, research, technical assistance, education, and outreach services.
Providing Access to the Visual Environment (PAVE)
PAVE provides technical assistance for teachers of students with low vision, as well as for parents, and direct instruction for children. PAVE assists any child with low vision, age 3 to 21 in Lead Education Agencies in Tennessee, private schools, or the Tennessee School for the Blind.
Research Family Partners
Research Family Partners is a program that helps families connect with Vanderbilt Kennedy Center research studies in which they may be interested in taking part.

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Links and Resources

Family Village Library - Blindness and Visual Impairments
The Family Village index of descriptions and links for organizations focusing on blindness and visual impairments.
Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center
The Clerc Center has been mandated by Congress to develop, evaluate, and disseminate innovative curricula, instructional techniques and strategies, and materials. The aim of the Clerc Center is to improve the quality of education for deaf and hard of hearing children and youth from birth through age 21.
Vanderbilt Vision Research Center
The Vanderbilt Vision Research Center (VVRC) promotes research and training on a wide range of problems in vision science including visually guided behavior and cognition, neural processes underlying visually guided behavior, comparative anatomy and physiology of visual systems, development and plasticity of the visual systems molecular mechanisms in the eye, diagnosis and treatment of vision disorders, and machine vision.

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