We all know the five senses – smell, touch, hearing, taste and sight. But for those who are born with or develop eye deformations or injuries, the sense of site can be taken away. Blindness denotes the inability of a person to distinguish darkness from bright light in either eye, leaving them in a state of being sightless.
The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) lists the following definitions as it relates to blindness or low vision:
- Visually Impaired: A person is considered visually impaired when, with best correction, he or she has difficulty reading a newspaper, is unable to see objects with peripheral vision, among many other indicators.
- Legally Blind: This is defined as no better than 20/200 corrected vision in the better eye, or a visual field not extending beyond 20 degrees in the better eye, or a visual efficiency of no more than 20 percent. The “legal” refers to a determination of the person’s eligibility for government benefits resulting from his or her visual impairment.
- Blindness: A wide array of conditions ranging from a limited ability to see objects with special aids to the absence of light perception. Most people who are blind have some light perception.
AFB adds that people who are color blind are unable to perceive differences in the various shades of colors, particularly green and red. Color blindness is most often inherited and affects more men than women.
Diabetic retinopathy, a common complication of diabetes, is the leading cause of blindness in American adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, more than 3.3 million Americans aged 40 years and older are either legally blind or are with low vision.
Nearly all cases of blindness in the U.S. are caused by eye disease, while trauma only makes up four percent of blindness causes.
As October is Blindness Awareness Month, take some time to learn more about blindness and how you can make a difference in the lives of those affected.
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