In the Eye of the Beholder: Sight, Illusion, and Disorder
Blindness
| About 12 million Americans have a vision impairment that cannot be corrected by eyeglasses. Of these, about 1.5 million are severely vision impaired, and 500,000 of them are legally blind. However, nearly 80 percent of the latter have some usable vision. Many vision aids are available to enhance low vision, such as magnifiers, special lenses and large-print reading materials. Other supportive measures include writing in braille, the options of a guide dog or white cane for travel, and the education of blind children, all of which are illustrated and explained in this exhibit.
Advances in the treatment of eye disorders have been accompanied by changes in sighted people's perceptions of blindness. A goal of the exhibit is to change the commonly held perception that blind people are helpless; blind people are simply people who cannot see. |
16. Alice in Wonderland, braille edition, and braille playing cards, both courtesy of the lowa Department for the Blind, Des Moines, IA. |
|
