This means that a person who is legally blind must stand 20 feet away from an object to see it clearly. People with normal vision can stand 200 feet away from the same object and see it clearly. An estimated 1.1 million Americans are legally blind. Certain conditions, such as glaucoma, cataracts, diabetes, and macular degeneration, can affect your vision to the point where you can be diagnosed with the disease. Vision loss can be traumatic, especially the type of extreme vision loss defined as legal blindness. Depression and isolation from family and friends are often accompanied by severe vision loss. The American Foundation for the Blind offers resources to help. You may be surprised to learn that it is Uncle Sam, not the doctor, who determines whether you are legally blind. An estimated 1.1 million Americans are legally blind, a term used by government agencies to assess who receives certain disabilities and other benefits. By current government standards, anyone with eyesight less than 20/200 is legally blind. A 20/200 vision means that the person must be within 20 feet to see clearly what a person with normal vision sees at 200 feet. Just because you can`t see more than one or two feet in front of you with your natural vision doesn`t mean you`re legally blind. If you can use glasses or contact lenses to correct your vision above 20/200, you are not eligible to be marked as blind under the law.

Another way of looking at it: if someone with 20/20 vision is standing next to a legally blind person, the legally blind person should approach up to 20 feet to see an object from 200 feet away, as well as the person with normal vision. People often ask about the difference between being blind and being “legally blind.” Because “blindness” can mean many different things, blindness under the law is the threshold at which a person is considered visually impaired for legal purposes, such as insurance purposes, to receive certain benefits, or to be accepted into various programs. Blind people are “legally blind,” but some people who can see with strong eyeglasses say they are legally blind without their glasses. This means that without glasses, they might not see well enough to see certain things, drive, etc. Visual acuity below 20/200 is considered blind under the law, but to truly fit the definition, the person must not be able to achieve 20/200 vision, even with prescription glasses. Many people who would be legally blind without glasses can function well in everyday life with proper glasses or contact lenses. Being considered legally blind means you can`t drive in any state. Talk to your doctor about your concerns. Being legally blind can also affect your ability to work or advance professionally in your chosen field.

This is one of the reasons why the U.S. Social Security Administration provides disability benefits to citizens who are legally blind. To apply for these benefits, you must first have a proper diagnosis from an ophthalmologist or optician. The government uses the term “statutory blindness” to decide who can receive certain benefits, such as disability or vocational training. This is not the same as being completely blind. Treatments for legal blindness vary depending on the cause and stage of the disease. Age-related eye conditions are usually prescription medications or eye procedures aimed at delaying or preventing vision from getting worse. Depending on the state you live in, legal blindness can also affect your ability to drive legally. In Florida, the law requires a minimum visual acuity of 20/70 or better in both eyes.

If you have any questions about your own visual acuity, or if it`s been a long time since you`ve seen an ophthalmologist to determine your vision, contact us. We are happy to assess your vision with a series of painless tests and discuss your concerns. You can talk to the doctor about how you see now and the options available to help you get your best vision possible! If you are completely blind, you cannot see any light or shape. If you`re legally blind like 1.3 million people in the United States, you can still see — but not as clearly. Normal (average) vision is 20/20. This means that you can see a 20-foot object clearly what others can see at 20 feet. If you are legally blind, your vision is 20/200 or less in your eye that sees better. That is, if an object is 200 feet away, you need to stand 20 feet away from it to see it clearly, but a person with normal vision can stand 200 feet away and see that object perfectly.

Certain conditions, such as glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetes, can affect your vision to such an extent that you can be diagnosed as legally blind. Legal blindness is determined when you wear your last prescription for glasses. There is no such thing as legal blindness “with glasses removed”. There is also no legal blindness in one eye. Legal blindness, by definition, is based on the best corrected visual acuity of the eye that sees better. It is important to know that the recipe for total blindness is 20/200, but it is after that your vision has been corrected. That is, if your natural eyes see at 20/200, but you can improve it to 80/200 with glasses or contact lenses, then you are not legally blind. No eye prescription should be considered “bad”. Different prescriptions refer to different levels of correction needed to restore normal vision. But what does it mean to have poor eyesight? Is it just that your vision is blurry or unclear? Legally, it must be caused by eye disease and reduce your visual acuity to at least 20/70. This means that to see what most people can see from 70 feet away, you need to be as close as 20 feet. In other words, you can hardly read the 3rd row from the top of Snellen`s eyeboard (or the chart you read at the ophthalmologist with all the letters).

Glaucoma is a disease that damages the optic nerve. It can cause blindness. “Legally blind” is the definition of blindness used by the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) to determine whether a person is eligible for disability benefits, tax exemptions, and training for the visually impaired. Eye trauma or injury and genetic diseases, such as Usher syndrome, can also lead to legal blindness. In the United States, a person is blind if: Poor vision or legal blindness can be limiting, of course, but there are many resources and tools to help you live your life with the utmost independence. Depending on the cause of your vision loss, you may be able to benefit from eye exercises and strategies to participate in daily activities. You may also find it helpful to use a stick, talking calculator, special computer software, and other products to help people who are legally blind. In most states, drivers must have 20/40 vision or better for an unrestricted driver`s license. If you wear glasses or contact lenses, your corrected vision should be at least 20/40.

If you have a Snellen rating above 20/70, with and without contact lenses or glasses, you have relatively good vision and are not legally blind or even legally visually impaired. AMD is a condition that affects the macular region of the retina. It is one of the leading causes of blindness in adults over the age of 65. To be legally blind, you must have a visual acuity of 20/200. This means that even with glasses or contact lenses, you can only read the first letter at the top of the Snellen diagram, if at all. You can also be legally blind if you can see, but only in a very small window in your eye. Essentially, even if you can see, if you can`t see enough to function regularly, you can probably be considered legally blind. A common test for visual acuity is Snellen`s eye chart. Someone who is legally blind could simply read the top row of the chart, a capital E, while wearing corrective lenses. The line under the capital E is the line for 20/100. There are also tests that can measure between 20/200 and 20/100.

Someone who can`t see the line for 20/100 but sees somewhere between 20/100 and 20/200 would still meet the government`s standard of legal blindness, which is why they are listed as “20/200 or less.” First, what does it mean to be “legally blind”? In most states, if you have less than 20/200 visual acuity that cannot be corrected with glasses/contact lenses, you are legally considered “severely visually impaired” (which was called “legally blind”). But the trick here is not what you see “naturally” (with the naked eye), but how well you see with your glasses or contact lenses. Despite such a high correction of myopic lens, if one or both of your eyes can see 20/40 or better, you are not “legally blind”. However, it`s easy to see how someone might feel this way when you`ve lost glasses somewhere! Normal visibility is 20/20. This means that you can clearly see an object from 20 feet away. If you are legally blind, your vision is 20/200 or less in your best eye or your field of vision is less than 20 degrees. That is, if an object is 200 feet away, you must stand 20 feet away from it to see it clearly. But a person with normal vision can stand at 200 feet and see this object perfectly. Some people who are legally blind have a visual acuity greater than 20/200. However, their peripheral vision is poor. The terms may also be used by health insurers to determine benefits and as part of the vision screening tests required by state departments of motor vehicles (DMV) when determining driver`s license eligibility. For safety reasons, people who are legally blind or visually impaired are generally not entitled to a driver`s licence.