New Glasses Helping People With Tunnel Vision
Using the glasses listed in the following article, a person with tunnel vision could possibly see more of the visual area they normally miss. The glasses work by projecting the image on the lens that only the wearer can see. It converts the visual layout into a cartoon like setting for the wearer.
The other alternative to these stylish glasses was a set of wires that were inserted in the brain and attached to the optical nerve. It allowed the wearer to see blurs of images and see movement. This is still quite amazing considering the wearer of the device was completely blind. It was much less stylish than the glasses pictures above.
Tunnel vision is not something you can tell someone has just by looking at them. If you observe them for a while you can probably tell that they have a vision problem or are inebriated. My dad has dealt with Retinitis Pigmentosa since he was a teenager. The eye disease causes the retina to deteriorate slowly over time, hence causing tunnel vision.
The pictures below, on the left you have normal vision and on the right you have a diminished view. The amount visible has become smaller and the color is disrupted. Victims of tunnel vision have no porifial vision, and have problems with daily tasks. Just think if that is all you can see and you are out walking, because you can’t see well enough to drive, and you step in a large pothole. What if you are in a shopping center and kids are running around all over the place? What about curbs, caution wet signs that are too low to the ground? I have seen my dad deal with all of these situations.
He does not use a cane, using one once after my mother and I had gotten on him for hurting himself out walking, he found a deep pot hole to trip in and roll his ankle, he had an incident with the cane. He was paying a visit to my high school guidance councilor and while walking down the hall one of the kids said “Hey!, why is that guy walking with a cane, he can see. He’s not blind”. Well contrary to belief he is blind, and very thankful for the little bit of sight he has.
If the only vision you had was the photo on the above left, would you spend time throwing a football with your child? or better yet a baseball? He did and never complained about it. He adapted well, I am guessing the slow deteriorate of his retinas attributes to better adaptation. His vision is still getting worse and will eventually phase out.
Below are the pictures of a normal retina and a retina with retinitus pigmentosa.
It would be great to see the glasses in the following link help my dad and others with tunnel vision.
September 24, 2006 at 5:37 pm
How much peripheral vision will the glasses or operation give a person. I person from Toronto, Ontario, and lost his licence. Would any of these proceduse help me pass the driver test and of couse have better more field of vision.
October 3, 2006 at 1:29 pm
My brother was just diagnosed with this disease and he’s 22. However, he also was struck my a car when he was twelve, so he’s lost the ability to use his left eye and is forced to see, what little he can see, through his right. Mostly the double vision and the headaches aggrivate him, but he seems to be dealing with it.
I’ve also just been diagnosed by an ophthalmologist with this disease. Though he said that I should speak to a Retinal Specialist to be certain, I have a suspicion that he is right. However, that is not the worst part, the worst part is knowing that we as parents can’t do all the things that a “normal” father would do with thier child. Though it’s interesting to see how children who have a parent with some type of impairment or disability seem to have more compassion for the average person than the typical child, it is disapointing to have to pass the burden unto our children.
I’ve recently been informed that I am going to be a father, but this recent news seems to concern me greatly, since I do noot want to hamper my child or his/her life, and I am unsure if my hcild will also be born with this in their body. I have discussed the option of abortion with my wife, but she seems to think that I am making a “big deal” about this. The biggest fear is that I am going to eventually push my wife away from me since she will not know how to deal with it, and I am afraid of passing this disease onto my child.
To put it bluntly, I don’t want him/her to live a life of loneliness and dispair because of this, since we live in a very visually demanding world, people with visual impairments or disablities are the ones left out. I just simply don’t know what to do….
October 3, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Vincent,
My dad was diagnosed when he was around 16, he had to hang up driving around 23. Where his vision slowly depleted over time I think it helped him adjust. In an area with no children or anything to trip on, you really can’t tell he has a problem, well it has gotten worse lately, he has a cataract (sp?) and i think is a little nervous of having what little bit of vision he has to be tampered with.
Due to his illness he was home and not at work all day, I know if I had kids I would never see theme because of my work schedule.
I researched RP pretty extensively when I was younger, I must admit, the fear of having or passing it on is very scary, but what I found was, (and this is all out of memory too) the majority of the time the gene that causes RP is passed on by the female, just like in color blindness. I cannot remember where I saw this or reference it.
No one else in my family that we know of has had the disease.
My dad always kept himself busy, he was and still is always tinkering with something. I believe this is what keeps him going. To say that because he has very little vision that his worth is little, is a huge understatement. I have friends or parents of friends that have said things like “I would be an alcoholic if I was him”, or sometimes i have heard negative remarks like “why doesn’t he work, he seems fine to me”. Winter is tough on him, being stuck inside, but he makes due.
I think my outlook on life and values were greatly shaped by him, and still are. The worst thing (in my opinion) that you could do (from my experience) is to push the ones close to you away. I know what goes through my mind when I thin about what if’s. when it comes to children and RP, I hope I am past the danger zone now. I am nearly 28 now and RP free.
This is just for you and if he reads this ugh, but he and I are like best friends, we talk, argue, laugh and joke around like brothers. The way he wore his blindness while i was growing up would be like a runner with a rock in their shoe that they can’t take out until the marathon is overwith, but they keep running.
If you have any more questions I would be glad to help as best I can or to get you in contact with my “old man”
October 6, 2006 at 12:06 am
I’m having some trouble trying to figure out what kind of work would be best for people who have this problem. My Brother seems to have just taken some small job that barely pays anything, and I keep driving myself crazy trying to find a job that would be best for him and myself. Where can i find that info?
Does your father read Braile, beacuase I’m an English major and what I fin most enjoyable, besides my soon to be expected child, is playing pool and reading. Since I will soon have problems playing pool, how woud someone like myself and your father read books? How many classical books are listed in Braile? Can i find information about it somewhere? I know there are some books on tape but those things are usually read in a way that simulates going to the dentist…painful, so what does he do?
October 16, 2006 at 8:42 pm
I apologize for taking so long to write back, I have been taking midterms and putting out technical fires at work.
He doesn’t read Braile, although I have tried to talk him into learning while he can still see. He has also looked into getting a seeing eye dog as well. Above everything I think he would rather appear as if nothing is wrong with him opposed to having a seeing eye dog.
My dad just keeps himself busy around the house, as best he can, his eyes are too bad for him to work. I think, just from experience that he would be dangerous, to himself and others.
The city I live in has a special transportation unit for the blind of this area. Check with your local (city, county, or state government) they may have much to offer and also in the line of jobs.