Editor’s note: February is Low Vision Awareness Month. VisionAware Peer Advisor Lynda Lambert talks about her experience with vision loss, seeking vision rehabilitation services, and obtaining low vision training. She outlines critical steps to take if you are experiencing vision loss. This blog has been updated as of February 2025.
My Experience with Vision Loss
Vision loss can occur gradually or quickly. Regardless, our first reaction is to think our creative life is over and that we will be different because of it. We will encounter new challenges and learn new ways of working and thinking. My sudden sight loss was over a decade ago; I thought I would never be able to write or make art again. I was in shock. In fact, I spent the first five months wondering how I would carry on with my life. Fortunately, I met another blind person who became my mentor. She gave me advice and information that gave me hope for my future. Here are three steps that worked for me. I hope this information will provide a bridge to seeking help and learning how you can continue your own creative life goals.
Step 1: Seek Professional Help
Once you have been diagnosed with an eye condition causing low vision, learn more about it and visit a low vision specialist, a professional who can help determine your needs. Ask your eye doctor to recommend a low vision specialist. If they are not aware of one, you can use the APH ConnectCenter Directory of Services to locate one.
Your visit to a low vision specialist will involve a low vision eye exam to determine what you see, how you see, and what equipment might help you. I am a visual artist and author. My low vision doctor wanted me to bring in samples of my art and writing so he could determine my needs. Can you imagine my surprise when the doctor told me I could make art again? And I could learn to write again with the aid of low vision equipment and some training! I began to think things were looking up for me at this point. I was greatly encouraged by this news.
Step 2: Keep an Open Mind About Your Options
After visiting the low vision specialist, you will know your options and work on regaining a life filled with creative possibilities. Remember: loss of sight does not mean loss of vision. You are still the same person with desires, goals, intentions, and a vision for your future. I was still the same person who wanted to make art and display my artwork in gallery exhibitions. I still wanted to write more books and have my work appear in literary journals. Even though my eyesight was limited, I could still see myself being the creative woman I am. I was still bursting with ideas and images I wanted to manifest. But how? Because I was interested in continuing to work, I qualified for the vocational rehabilitation program in my state.
Additionally, I went to a rehabilitation program where I learned to regain and reimagine my creative life. It was an exciting new adventure, and I entered full of excitement and determination.
Step 3: Learn to Use Low Vision Devices and Equipment
There are two options for rehabilitation training:
- We can leave home and enter a residency program where we are in school all day, five days a week, for up to three months. Or
- We can stay home and receive training without disrupting our everyday lives as much as possible.
Residential Programs
Initially, I chose the residential program option. I knew I wanted to move along a fast track and achieve goals, and I knew I needed a lot of help to meet them. I was ready for the hard work and wanted to focus on recovery and rehabilitation with no distractions. This option is not for everyone, nor would everyone be eligible for this choice, but it was best for me. Other vision rehabilitation programs are available for people 55 and older with vision loss. Check the Time to Be Bold directory to find out more.
In residential programs, students attend daily classes with other students. Teachers are present in the classrooms throughout the day. This is an intensive period in which the student covers a large amount of information and has assignments to do every day. The bonus of this type of program is that the students can have discussions with faculty and have hands-on teaching every day. Lessons are reinforced by daily practice. This is a sensible option because some of the low vision equipment has a steep learning curve.
Advantages of Residential Programs
- A great advantage of this option is that the instructors teach with programs and equipment they work with daily. They are familiar with every detail of a piece of equipment, and you do not have to wait for an instructor to experiment or read product manuals before they can show you how it works.
- Another bonus is the interaction with other students. Learning together, side-by-side, with another student is invaluable. Your interactions as you learn how to use the equipment help you to remember and reinforce the technique and lesson.
- A third advantage is that I worked with the teachers to determine exactly which programs and equipment I would use. We met to discuss my needs and desires for my personalized program. Each student has an individual course plan designed specifically for them. It is a joint decision. We worked out a plan for our education goals, daily lessons, and an assignment for each step of the learning process. It was well-organized and well-defined. Each lesson was designed to move us forward in using the equipment on our own.
- A fourth advantage for me is that I left my home and daily life behind to be free to learn. I did not have distractions such as taking care of pets or children, making phone calls, doing tasks that involved other family members, or doing daily jobs such as preparing meals, doing laundry, or doing household tasks. I could stay in the classroom all day and even return to my studies at night to do homework and reinforce the lessons without interruptions. For me, this was the perfect learning environment. When I left the school at the end of my three-month training period, I felt I could do anything I wanted to do. I just had to figure out how to adapt to do it. It was a triumphant feeling.
- Finally, in addition to the daily classes in classrooms, I was given hours of mobility training outside on the city streets. I learned how to walk on the city streets and analyze every traffic stop to determine how and when I could cross the roads. I learned how to take city buses, how to shop in a variety of stores, and how to find my way to and from any location. I felt so triumphant when I completed my training.
Learning at Home
If you opt to have vision rehabilitation at home, the instructor comes to you and gives you a lesson periodically over several weeks or months. Your lessons may be from two to three hours in length. Over the past 11 years, I’ve had three different in-home learning experiences. Each was different and for different purposes.
You may choose this option if it fits your lifestyle and intended goals. With this option, your learning takes place over a long period of time, lasting a couple of weeks or more between the instructor’s visits.
Another Potential Option
In addition to state-run rehabilitation programs, some states have private agencies for people who are blind or visually impaired. They offer programs in which people can come to a local agency for training. You can locate such services through the APHConnect Center Directory of Services.
What is Lynda Up to Now?
One of my newest fiber arts works, Red Snow Squall, was in the Insights Art Exhibition at APH in October 2024. It sold at the opening reception! My works have been featured in that show 8 times!
I just published my 6th book, Each Day Holds Some Small Joy: Poems. It is a collection of 130 short nature-themed poems with photographs from my garden. Five of my books are available through Amazon. I always think of my books as missionaries. They can travel to places I will never be able to go, and they meet people I may never know in person. My books bring beauty and joy to those who read them.
Learn More
Roadmap to Living with Vision Loss: What Kinds of Services Will You Need to Maintain Independence? – ConnectCenter