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This article orients the reader to numerous aspects of low vision aids, including types of aids, function of aids, training sequence and considerations, a non-technical description of visual acuity, and favorable prognostic factors in using low vision aids. A brief annotated resource list is included.

This article describes the function of a low vision clinic and reports on an evaluation of one clinic's services. Findings indicate general satisfaction by college students, with some important obstacles identified in the use of low vision aids. Among the hindrances were cumbersome appearance, restriction in field of vision, time-consuming manipulation, and difficult access to repair services.

Enhanced understanding of successful adjustment to low vision aids can be attained by separately analyzing each kind of aid. This was done with data derived from 458 clients who received services in 1987 from the Low Vision Clinic, Migdal Or, Haifa, Israel. Eleven kinds of visual aids were evaluated via a series of independent regression equations, each of which included seven independent variables: age, sex, work status, participation in a rehabilitation program, academic status, total number of visual aids in use, and total number of diagnosed eye diseases. Results indicated extreme variation in the predictive abilities of the models.

Explains the four basic types of magnification available to people with low vision and describes some optical aids.

The prescription of Distance Low Vision Aids (LVA) for children aged 5-13 years, can greatly improve their achievement both academically and socially. For LVAs may give the child increased proficiency in: board work, demonstration observation, viewing movies and slides, field trips, map reading, activities with peers, and orientation and mobility. However, satisfactory use of the aids requires an understanding of the ever changing classroom environment and needs close cooperation between the teacher and doctor prescribing the LVA.

The aim of the research/service clinic set up at the Wolfson Centre in 1985 has been to provide very young severely visually impaired children with optimal visual expenence of materials from which they can learn The expenence of an optometnst and developmental paediatrician working together is presented, and the importance of this team Input to assessment emphasised. A detailed exploration of near functional vision made with real objects and nursery-age picture material serves as the basis for the prescription of an aid and subsequent evaluation of its success The careful counselling of parents and the importance of ongoing support and follow-up are discussed

Prototypes of motorized-focus telescopes (MFTs) and of a 4X auto-focus telescope (AFT) were constructed, and 22 users of hand-focus telescopes (HFTs) were trained to use them for near-distance and intermediate-distance tasks. Despite the lack of differences in performance with the MFT, AFT, and HFT, the subjects' ratings on 9 of 10 aspects of telescope performance were significantly higher for the AFT and MFT than for the HFT.

Many practitioners who deal with visually impaired persons have speculated that unsatisfactory rehabilitation is related to psychological, behavioral, and visual factors. This hypothesis was examined in the study reported here using a semistructured interview and various objective measures of the above-mentioned factors. Fourteen partially sighted individuals participated in this study and were compared to 14 age-matched control subjects. The visually impaired participants tended to worry more about their vision, to be less independent when traveling, to have more physical ailments, and to experience more fluctuations in appetite. Major correlates of the successful use of low vision aids were emotional and practical support, delay in seeking low vision services, performance on the information subscale of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and the past use of near vision in employment or leisure activities.

The traditional Low Vision Aid service using Hospital Eye Service Prescription forms is expensive and often associated with poor patient satisfaction as found in the studies by Mcllwaine, Bell and Dutton (1991) and by Humphrey and Thompson (1986). We audited this service in a district general hospital. Subsequently a more integrated "In House" Low Vision Aid clinic was established. The new service was re-audited to compare costs and also to look at patient satisfaction. The first audit composed a retrospective analysis of over two years of Hospital Eye Service Prescription forms (495 forms) which were traced through the optometrists/opticians and the Health Authority's finance department. In the second audit a retrospective analysis, of the records of 102 patients and a telephone survey were undertaken. In the first audit the average cost per patient receiving Low Vision Aids was £107.43; in the second this figure was £47.83 suggesting the integrated Low Vision Aid clinic is more cost-effective. We also obtained a patient satisfaction rate of 76%.

A retrospective study was carried out to evaluate the paediatric visual impaired population attending the Low Vision Clinic at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, over a period of 14 years. Data were collected and analysed for children less than 17 years for prevalence, demographics, registration status, aetiologies, and types of low vision aids issued. The total number of children identified was 204. Of these, 19 percent of the children were registered blind, 45 percent were registered partially sighted, and 36 percent were not registered. The four diagnostic groups were genetic (29%), prenatal (36%), perinatal (23%), and childhood (12%). Describing local characteristics of paediatric visual impairment is a useful measure of current low vision service provision. This information can further inform educational, social, and health needs for the visually impaired children to ensure adequate service provision.