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General Questions About Vision Loss
Any changes in vision, such as blurring, distortion, straight lines becoming wavy, dark spots, light flashes, or floaters, may be symptoms of a vision condition. Be sure to see an eye doctor right away if you experience any vision changes.
Hadley's free workshop, Degrees of Vision Loss, may make you more comfortable with the eye tests your doctor will use to check your eye health. Note these tests can also detect vision issues before you notice any vision changes.
See an eye doctor as soon as you can so they can help you understand your vision and offer treatments.
Here are some resources to help you get ready for your visit:
- A trip to the eye doctor, especially if you've noticed vision changes, might create anxiety. The workshop, Visiting Your Eye Doctor, has tips to help reduce stress and make sure you get the most out of these important visits.
- Hadley member Judy Box, a former psychiatrist who has macular degeneration, shares her tips for managing important conversations with your eye doctor in this Hadley Presents podcast episode: Getting the Most from Your Eye Doctor Appointments
- From navigating buildings and rooms to filling out forms and signing your name, medical appointments can involve many stumbling blocks. Listen in to the Hadley Presents episode Navigating Health Care with Vision Loss as we share tips and advice to help make managing medical appointments a bit easier.
Some types of vision loss can be slowed or prevented with early detection and treatment. Regular eye exams and discussing any vision changes with an eye doctor are essential.
Also, if a doctor tells you, “nothing more can be done,” there is more help for living with vision loss. Call Hadley at 800-323-4238. We offer practical help and social-emotional support—no waiting list, no doctor's note, no travel, no fee at all.
Monthly chats from Bright Focus Foundation offer insights into the latest breakthroughs, treatments, and promising research on the horizon. Learn more with this Hadley Presents podcast episode: Hear from the Scientists: Glaucoma and Macular Degeneration Chats
Macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and cataracts are the most common age-related eye conditions. Although they can cause significant visual impairment, they do not necessarily result in full blindness.
The following Hadley Presents podcast episodes offer in-depth information about glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetes.
- Eye Doctors on Common Eye Conditions
- Glaucoma Questions, Concerns and Answers
- Retina Specialist on Macular Degeneration and Other Conditions
If you've been diagnosed with vision loss, call us at 800-323-4238. We can help you get the practical skills and social/emotional support you need—no waiting list, no doctor's note, no travel, no fee at all.
Dealing with vision loss is difficult. Hadley members have said that learning they are not alone and new ways to do things differently has helped a lot. The following Hadley offerings may be good places to start. An eye condition can make everyday things a bit more complicated, and these workshop series offer helpful tips that can make a big difference in your daily routines. You can also call us for more direct support: 800-323-4238.
Daily Living & Accessibility
Depending on the tasks and your needs, many simple tips, tweaks, and adjustments can make a huge difference. They can be as simple as brightly colored tape and Velcro, or as specialized as high-powered magnifiers and the white cane. The following free workshops are good places to start, to begin understanding how doing things differently can make everyday living a little bit easier:
Safety considerations, glare reduction, and high color contrast are a few ways to making the home more accessible. Our Low Vision series has workshops that offer simple adjustments to make your home low vision friendly:
Smartphones and apps can be game-changers for living with vision loss. Hadley offers free step-by-step workshops on how to use your iPhone or Android phone without relying on vision. There are also workshops for helpful apps like Seeing AI. Call and ask for a technology specialist at 800-323-4238 to find the best place to start.
Hadley also has a discussion group, Tech It Out, that meets monthly online and by phone to chat on latest technology. Join to learn a few tips: Listen in. Chime in. It's up to you.
The following Hadley Presents podcast episodes offer insight on smartphones and apps:
When you've lost some vision, reading can become difficult. But with the right tools and a few tips, you can get back to reading the mail, a price tag, thermostat, or book. Learn some tips and tricks with this series of workshops Reading with Vision Loss.
The Hadley Presents podcast episode Reading After Vision Loss, shares tips and tricks for how to continue reading, from low-tech methods to high-tech gadgets, and the benefits of braille.
If a particular method stands out to you, whether it's magnifiers or trying AI glasses, call us at 800-323-4238 or email [email protected], and we can help you learn more.
The National Library Service offers audiobooks for people with vision loss. Listen to the podcast episode National Library Service and Free Talking Books to learn more. Then call Hadley to help you connect with NLS.
Yes, many simple tips and adaptations help with cooking and organizing the home with vision loss. Some include applying high contrast, like pouring a dark liquid into a light cup; keeping doors and cupboards closed; using labels you can feel to identify things, and much more. Explore the sample of free workshops below, or call 800-323-4238 for help getting started.
- Cooking: Pouring: Some tips and planning can go a long way to pouring hot and cold liquids safely and accurately.
- Cooking: Kitchen Safety Basics: Some safety tips and techniques can help you safely prepare meals with vision loss.
- Labels You Touch: Marks we can feel can tell us what something is and how to use it.
Braille & Learning Resources
You do not need to learn braille just because you've lost some vision. But you may find it helpful for everyday tasks. Learning letters and numbers will let you use the elevator panel by touch. And if you find you enjoy braille, you can learn more to read books and play games.You can start learning a bit right now. Here's a link to our Braille for everyday use a-c.
You may find these stories from Hadley members encouraging for learning a little braille:
- “I love to cook and I'm not stopping”: Linda learned some braille and uses it in her kitchen.
- Leah Moore, Learning New Ways to Do What She Loves: Leah determined to prepare for vision loss, including learning braille with Hadley.
To get started, you can sign up for our free braille program, Braille for Everyday Use.
Learning braille is easier than ever. Just sign up for our free workshops at this link, Braille for Everyday Use, or call 800-323-4238. Workbooks are mailed directly to your home, and you can listen to the audio from your telephone or computer.
To learn more about this workshop series, check out the Hadley Presents podcast episode Learning Braille for Everyday Use, where Wendy Spencer Davis talks about her experience with our unique and fun braille workshops. She shares, “And I even started labeling my seasonings in the cabinet and other items in the freezer.”
Absolutely! Hadley offers free bite-sized workshops featuring topics from adjusting to vision loss to carrying out everyday tasks with vision loss to using technology. Our workshops are available online and through the mail as audio cartridges, in large print, and in braille. Explore our website, HadleyHelps.org/learn, or give us a call at 800-323-4238, and we can help you find a good place to start.
Support & Community
Call Hadley! 800-323-4238. If you have questions or just need a listening ear, our social service specialists are available to speak with you.
We offer many types of social-emotional support for older adults with vision loss:
- Discussion groups give you a chance to connect and learn from Hadley and others who share your interest.
- Adjusting & Coping Together virtual low vision support groups are for older adults with vision loss. You can navigate, share, and discuss with others the difficult emotions that come with vision loss, and learn some ways to cope.
- Peer to Peer is a Hadley program where members connect with another person on a similar journey with vision loss. In this episode of Hadley Presents, Peer-to-Peer Program, two members discuss how it has enriched their lives.
This is a great question. Family and friends of a person with vision loss are welcome to join Hadley and access our free vision resources. Our workshop Partner to Build Skills and Boost Confidence especially helps family members and friends gain insight into how to support a loved one who is experiencing vision loss. A great place to start is simply to ask the friend or loved one how you can help, not assume how to help. Open conversation is essential.
Also, many people have found Hadley's short workshop, Guided Walking, very helpful for understanding the best way to help guide a person with vision loss.
In the Hadley Presents podcast episode, Vision Loss and Family Dynamics, Sarah Clark, a visually impaired marriage and family therapist, offers unique insight into some common family dynamics that often make adjustment more challenging and how to navigate through them successfully.
Finally, folks have shared how they navigate friendship and marriage with vision loss on our Hadley Presents podcast. You may find the following selection insightful on what worked well and what didn't:
- The Impact of Vision Loss on Friendships: Hadley members Eugenia DeReu and Tara Perry share their experiences with what changed in their friendships, and what stayed the same.
- The Impact of Vision Loss on Marriage, Revisited: Karen and Dan Leonetti share how vision loss has changed their relationship and advice they have for other couples.