What is the Job of a Low-Vision Specialist?

A low-vision expert or specialist may be a practicing ophthalmologist or an optometrist and the person helps patients who suffer from vision impairment.

The job of low-vision specialist will be more required for patients who have a very high degree of vision impairment that could not be corrected by any medical or surgical treatments.

A low-vision specialist is a well equipped person and with the gained training and knowledge he/she will assist visually impaired patients to cope with the situation with whatever the left out vision and help them to lead a near normal life devoid of any untoward incidents or accidents.

If a patient’s vision could not be corrected either by surgery or by wearing glasses then such patients are considered to be a low-vision patient and only here the services of a low-vision specialist will come into picture.

The low-vision specialist will assist these patients in acquiring skills for using hand held magnifiers or magnifying spectacles.

The patients with all such aids will be able to read printed matter even small sized printed matter such as instructions over the dial of an oven or any other appliances.

The specialist also assists patients to learn to use hand held telescopes or glass mounted telescopes and make them to see distant objects with ease.

With a little more knowledge on human psychology, these low-vision specialists can do wonders in the lives of vision impaired patients and help those desperate patients to meet their life with confidence.

With the help of such specialists, the patients can learn many of the functional abilities that help them in their day to day life.

Though there is a possibility for patients to select their own requirement of devices or low-vision aids and use them adeptly to their advantage, the real efficiency can be attained only with the assistance of a low-vision expert, as the specialist will have more varied knowledge about the vision impairment than the patient himself.

Further, a low-vision expert can assist vision impaired patients in avoiding any of the potential dangers that may result from using any of the low-vision aids.

The Good Qualities of a Low-Vision Specialist

When it comes to the quality of doctors, each and every doctor is uniquely different due to their varied abilities and knowledge levels.

The same logic or the fact is also true in case of low-vision specialists and you can find a very wide difference in their ability levels as well as expertise in handling the situations.

In such a scenario, you can select your low-vision expert based on the evaluation made and the laid down guidelines.

Determining the vision acuity and devising a theoretical magnification required for the patients alone cannot make as “best care”, as there are many other controlling factors that decide on the quality of vision care and the quality of rehabilitation.

In fact, the rehabilitation process for any low-vision patients is a multidisciplinary one. In case multidisciplinary vision care the primary aim will be to make the visually impaired person socially adjustable and visually independent in all aspects.

To make it further clear, the specialist or the doctor should take care of the patient on an individual case by case, the doctor should be in a position to assist patient in regaining or attaining a visual independence as far as possible and the doctor should be a friend and guide in making the patients adjust to the social conditions and in making the patients to face any new environment with confidence.

Low-vision care experts’ job is not easy and they need a high level of involvement and a sacrificing attitude to excel in their field and they also should devote maximum time with patients in order to achieve a professional acceptance.

The specialist should discuss things with the patient in detail and help the patient in understanding the situation and the possibilities or rather the impossibilities in their life due to vision impairment.

The specialist should act as a counselor to the patient at all times and extend a supportive role to the patient for a long period of time.

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