Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Low vision is any form of vision impairment, not correctable by glasses or contacts, resulting from eye diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, or cataract. Low vision is a broad spectrum lying between total blindness and normal vision. The number of people with low vision is rising rapidly as our population ages, with hundreds of millions worldwide. This book describes the experience of living with low vision and the corresponding everyday challenges and solutions. Part I of the book explains what low vision is and why it is misunderstood. Separate chapters explain how acuity, contrast sensitivity, and visual fields are measured and how the corresponding deficits affect what people with low vision can see. Part II describes how low vision affects everyday life, especially reading and mobility. Almost everyone with low vision has reading difficulty. Mobility can also be daunting: How do people with low vision get around on foot or by car? Part III addresses the hope of sight recovery from two perspectives: There have been remarkable recent advances in addressing several forms of childhood low vision. And, there are the dreams and realities of vision restoration for people living with low vision. The book concludes with an epilogue looking ahead at future research on low vision.</jats:p>