Beyond Low Vision

04/01/2025

Wow! It was gratifying to be able to get Margaret (age 83) to be able to get her to see to thread a needle. Here is the type of spectacle mounted telescopes she needs to use to be able to remain a seamstress both vocationally and avocationally.

02/17/2025

02/11/2025

I had an amazing experience with a low vision patient the other day. He is partially sighted to the point that he has not even been able to see faces for the past several years. When I demonstrated a telescope and he could see his family's faces he was stunned! He was overjoyed!' He is in his early forties as was not looking forward to a sightless life.

Dr.John Jacobi, OD, FCOVD, FIALVS

02/05/2025

I couldn’t have said this better!

Low vision resources including a video, titled “There is Something Else You Can Do.” Introduced by David W. Parke II, MD, Academy CEO, that emphasizes the impact of vision loss

01/27/2025

https://youtu.be/AsiqyVd92ck?si=4_iE5jubaKMLQdY1

Watch as Dr.Jacobi discusses low vision on Live in the D!

Our low vision optometrist, Dr. John Jacobi, is a member of the International Academy Of Low Vision Specialists, a professional organization dedicated to ena...

01/24/2025

What differentiates a low vision doctor form a general optometrist is his expertise in using various forms of magnification to overcome the devastation of eye diseases such as macular degeneration. A low vision exam goes beyond sight and concentrates on improving the lifestyle of patients by returning them to reading, TV watching, seeing faces and even driving.

The low vision exam lasts about an hour. This length of time allows patient and doctor explore as many magnification options as possible in order to reach all of the patient's goals.

What makes my low vision exam more unique is my emphasis on "hands-free" devices. That is, instead of hand-held devices I prescribe telescopes mounted in eyeglasses.

01/22/2025

The reality is that most low vision glasses look “different”. Things stick out from the glasses. They are called telescopes. Generally, they are quite small and yet powerful! The magnification- is the beauty! The small extensions allow you to see faces, get around, watch TV and stay as independent as possible!

Telescopic and other low vision devices are only prescribed when “regular” looking glasses no longer meet the goals of a patient. They are not prescribed lightly because simple, if possible, is always best for the patients.

Physics limit the magnification of “regular” glasses.

01/22/2025

Recently I had a patient visit that was incredibly moving. Fred S., 78 years old, is a retired college professor that has a voracious appetite for reading. However, macular degeneration stole most of his acute sight causing him to have to hold reading materials three inches from his face. Though the print was larger when he held things closely, reading became laborious.

And then Fred S. had a stroke and was no longer able to hold up his books. But then after I examined him I had a solution for Fred in order to renew his reading proficiency! We used reading telescopes that allowed magnification even when Fred held his reading in his lap.

Watching Fred tear up as he sat in the examination chair reading his latest book was so moving!