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Disability Issues
Dr Christine Peta
WHILE prescription glasses have become commonplace, many people do not realise that those who rely on them for daily activities like driving, reading, writing and recognising faces actually experience visual impairment.
This lack of awareness can lead to a misunderstanding of the challenges faced by individuals who depend on corrective lenses. By acknowledging the reality of visual impairment behind the glasses, we can foster greater empathy and understanding.
When people who wear prescription glasses identify themselves as persons with disabilities, they are often accused of faking impairment. The accusers say this yet visual impairment refers to both partial or total inability of visual perception.
That is not to say people who use non-prescription eyewear to make a fashion statement are persons with visual impairment. What we are saying is that those who cannot function without the assistive devices, prescription glasses, are indeed persons with some form of visual impairment.
Some people are born with visual impairment due to maternal infections during pregnancy, including ones transmitted sexually, such as gonorrhea; nutritional deficiencies; genetic conditions; and retinopathy of prematurity, which occurs in premature infants due to abnormal blood vessel development in the retina.
In addition, measles, vitamin A deficiency and injury of the eyes may cause visual impairment in children.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) asserts that globally, about 2,2 billion people have visual impairment and the leading causes of this condition are uncorrected refractive errors, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.
Refractive errors are vision problems caused by the shape of the eye, which prevent light from focusing correctly on the retina (light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye).
Cataract is a condition affecting the eye, which causes clouding of the lens and if its gradual progression is not attended to, it may lead to total vision loss.
Diabetic retinopathy is a diabetes complication that is caused by damage to the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye (retina). The longer that one has diabetes and the less controlled one’s blood sugar level is, the more likely that the person will develop eye complications.
Glaucoma is a group of eye conditions that damage the optic nerve, which sends visual information from one’s eye to the brain, allowing the person to see. Age-related macular degeneration is an eye disease that can blur one’s central vision. It occurs when ageing causes damage to the macular, which is a part of the eye that controls sharp, straight-ahead vision.
The reality is that if we all live long enough, we will all at one point or the other experience some form of visual impairment.
Persons with visual impairment may need to be supported by sighted human beings, guide dogs and/or assistive devices that include prescription glasses, screen readers, screen magnifiers, braille watches and canes.
The type of assistive device that one requires is dependent on one’s degree of visual impairment and one’s choice.
Guide dogs are service dogs that are specially trained to work with persons with visual impairment, to make sure they are safe, assisting them with things that include crossing streets, walking in places they are not accustomed to and navigating busy environments.
WHO’s classification of visual impairment includes mild vision loss or near-normal vision, moderate visual impairment or moderate low vision, severe visual impairment or severe low vision, profound visual impairment or profound low vision, near-total visual impairment or near total blindness, and total visual impairment or total blindness.
Way forward
About 80 percent of total blindness is avoidable, hence there is need for all of us to ensure that we get our eyes regularly checked by eyecare health workers, so we take necessary action early, as some complications may not have warning signs.
A change in vision may only be noticed in later stages, when it may be too late to prevent vision loss.
Appropriate functional assessments of vision by eyecare health workers is important, as the findings can make a significant contribution to the development and interpretation of policies.
They can also help in designing and enabling an ideal environment for people with varying degrees of visual impairment or any other types of impairment.
Dr Christine Peta is a disability, public health, policy, international development and research expert. She is the national director of disability affairs in Zimbabwe. She can be contacted on: [email protected]
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