Glare

Studies have shown that measuring visual acuity in the visually impaired does not necessarily predict problems encountered in everyday life (Aslam, Haider & Murray 2007)


Before talking about the adaptations and strategies we have found that have helped our children’s vision impairment, I would like to talk about the children’s biggest enemy – GLARE. This is a really important consideration as awareness of the importance of reducing glare to help a child to maximise their usable vision will allow the strategies you then put in place to enhance their vision be more beneficial to them.

Disability glare is the loss of retinal image contrasts . Lack of pigment in the albinism eye cannot filter the amount of light entering the eye, the light bounces around the back of the eye uncontrollably preventing a good retinal image especially if light sensitivity is severe, which in turn reduces the ability to be able to see. It has been likened to walking out of the cinema on a bright day and experiencing a period of relatively poor vision but this is adaptation glare and quickly resolves.

Glare is probably much more of an issue than any normally pigmented person first realises. It is not as simple as just keeping your child out of the sun, at times glare seems to be everywhere. Direct glare is more obvious, the sun and bright lights being the main culprits that automatically spring to mind. Then you have to start thinking outside the box.

I would like to point out at this stage that this is our family's experience and something that may not affect your child but my one piece of advice would be to try reducing glare anyway to see if it makes a difference. My son did not 'appear' to be overly bothered by glare yet once strategies were in place his vision and comfort improved. He realised that other people did not experience these problems- he presumed everyone else 'saw' the same way he did. As ell as direct glare my children are affected by reflected glare from snow, concrete, water, light coloured buildings, walls & fabrics- I bought my son long sleeved white school shirts (compulsory uniform) when he started secondary school but the glare was so uncomfortable when he tried to write he had to change to short sleeved shirts! Of course one of the most unbearable glare sources for my children has been white paper /backgrounds.