Blindness or loss of vision is one of the disabilities that people fear the most. The term visual impairment refers to vision that is not correctable with regular glasses or a medical or surgical treatment. An estimated 120,000 Americans are totally blind and 3 million have severe visual impairment (unable to read regular newsprint). Vision impairment increases with age as shown in the graph below.

An individual who is technically legally blind may still be National Eye able to read with low vision aids. The definitions for low vision, Institute legal blindness and total blindness are shown in the table below. Those with severe vision impairment are more likely to be women, [Image] poor, unmarried, living alone, non-white, have less than a high school education, report fair or poor health, and lack health insurance (Lighthouse, 1994). The most common causes of vision loss in older Americans are cataracts, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. The Structure of the Eye illustration at the right shows the most common components of the eye which are affected by age-related diseases.

A legally blind individual may be able to read with low vision aids. An estimated 120,000 Americans are totally blind and 3 million have severe visual impairment (unable to read regular newsprint). Vision impairment increases dramatically with age.