| VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS INCLUDING BLINDNESS |
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| IDEA DEFINITION OF VISUAL IMPAIRMENT INCLUDING BLINDNESS: an impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness. LEGAL BLINDNESS is defined as visual acuity of 20/200 or worse in the best eye with correction, as measured on the Snellen Test, or a visual field of 20% or less. VISUAL ACUITY means sharpness or clearness of vision. LOW VISION means visual acuity of between 20/200 and 20/70 in the best eye with correction. PREVALENCE VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS and BLINDNESS Approximately 1 in 3,000 American children is considered legally blind, and 3% of the total population (9 million people) have a significant vision loss that will require some type of specialized support or services. About 5% of American children (app. 1.2 million) have a serious eye disorder. In 2002, the Department of Education reported that 25,975 school children with vision loss between ages 6 and 21 received specialized services. POSSIBLE CAUSES OF VISION PROBLEMS (A to Z or something...): Abinism Abnormalities of the iris Amblyopia Anophthalmia Aphakia Asphyxia Benign Essential Blapharospasm (BEB) Bilateral Optic Nerve Hypoplasia Cataracts Cortical visual impairment Dacryocystitis Diabetes Diabetic Retinopathy Diplopia (Double Vision) Drugs and medications Glaucoma or buphthalmos Hydrocephalus Infections Inflammations Iritis Juvenile Retinoschisis Leprosy Lesions of the cornea Macular degeneration Macular Pucker Microphthalmia Onchocerciasus Optic atrophy Optic Neuritis Poisons Prenatal radiation Retinal Detachment Retinitus pigmentosa Retinoblastoma Retinopathy of prematurity Seizures Severe myopia with retinal detachment Strabismus Stroke Teratogens Trachoma Trauma Tumors Vitreous Disorder (floaters) Xerophthalmia (vitamin A deficiency) |
