Vital work of OT teams celebrated

Keeping an eye

on your vision later in life

Macular degeneration and vision loss can have a major impact on older people, but fortunately there are solutions on offer to make life easier.

Did you know that age-related macular degeneration is one of the leading causes of vision loss in older Australians? The condition impacts central vision.

One in seven Australians over the age of 50 develop the condition.

Harry is 86 and lives with his partner in Fremantle. Twenty years ago, he was diagnosed with glaucoma. A decade later, he developed macular degeneration when the macula in both eyes, part of the retina, became damaged. Harry has wet macular degeneration when blood vessels grow under the retina and leak. The macula controls sharp, straight-ahead vision, so Harry has blurred central vision and glare sensitivity.

He has been receiving support from VisAbility Occupational Therapist Keearny, offering him guidance on living aids, home modifications and assistive technology.

Harry leads a busy life but is aware that his vision is worsening.

“It’s the simple things I can’t seem to do anymore. When I go shopping with my partner, I struggle to see the labels on the food items in a supermarket.”

An ardent follower of sports, Harry now prefers to listen to his beloved Fremantle teams on the radio rather than watch the games.

“I start to feel dizzy focusing on a ball which is moving about on a screen.”

Living aids are available to help Harry in his daily life. These include:

MAGNIFIERS

Magnifiers come in all shapes and sizes, from hand-held to pocket, fixed stand, or desktop. All are useful for enlarging texts or objects.

Harry uses a large desktop magnifier to read the newspapers to keep up with his sports news. A yellowblack combination provides stronger colour contrast and is better for glare sensitivity than black and white.

TEXT-TO-SPEECH DEVICES

As his vision worsens, Harry may want to use text-tospeech devices. They are portable devices that translate any printed text that it reads out. Text-to-speech devices are perfect for reading letters and bank statements etc.

LIGHTING

Desk and floor lamps will provide better illumination for reading or doing any craft. Spotlights are available that fold up into your handbag.

TACTILE MARKERS

It can be tricky to see dials on a kitchen stove or microwave. Bump or tactile dots can help. Consider putting large print labels or Braille labels on tins and packets of food.

READY TO READ There are aids available from VisAbility to help people continue to enjoy books and reading.

LARGE, BRIGHT KEYBOARDS

If you are using a computer, you might want to consider a keyboard with large letters.

TALKING BOOKS

Harry is now transitioning to talking books because he is struggling to read print. Hand-held audio book players take DAISY cartridges (the acronym is for Digital Accessible Information System). Both are for people with low or no vision.

You can access digital audio books from the VisAbility Audio Library. Membership is free for people with low or no vision. If you or someone you know have macular degeneration or are experiencing vision loss, you can find out more about our support by visiting visability.com.au/oak