Film/blurry over vision and a peripheral question

[A_W]

Hello, I'm unsure what subject to put this under. I've Amblyopia, glare problems, color contrast problems, floaters, some sort of light refraction error was suggested (too much light goes red), et cetera and so forth. Individual eyes have been greying over so I can't see through them though, generally my right. Comes on quite sudden (at least, light problems/floaters ect. are the same all around, they don't seem to be preceding anything) and then it clears up mighty quickly about a minute later. No pain whatsoever (knock on wood) but it does sometimes feel like something's in the eye. I used to be able to 'see through' it a bit, like gauze, but now it's completely grey and I don't see a thing. Happens three or four times a month, average o'no less than once a week. Used to happen much less. I'm supposed to be getting an appointment with a low vision specialist to see if I qualify for job rehab, but I'm not sure when, so does anyone have an idea on what to check into?

Also, for peripheral vision, when being tested is seeing the object and recognizing the object the same thing? Because I can see the colors and general shape mostly, but can't for the life of me recognize anything until it's at the edge of my glasses. We tried a 'tell-me-when-you-can-see-your-hand' deal and I'm afraid I might've given her an erroneous answer in confusion.

[Flavius G Pernoud III, MD]

Have you seen an ophthalmologist??? I'm confused. The "graying out" of your vision is what according to your doctor??? Look up amaurosis fugax and call your ophthalmologist right away. Don't wait for the low vision exam or your low vision may be permanent.

[berrywoo]

Oops, I mis-stated. Both "seeing" and "recognition" are neurological. They just involve different parts of the brain. My mistake. Sorry..

[berrywoo]

Oh, wait forgot to answer your peripheral vision question. The answer is no, seeing and recognizing an object are two different things. Seeing an object is all visual but recognizing is more neurological. For example, if someone hands you an object, you can see the object clearly but you may not recognize what the object is either b/c you've never encountered the object before or b/c you've got some brain disorder that prevents you from actually knowing what the object is.
Sorry, if this doesn't make sense, my writing skills are sorely lacking.

[berrywoo]

I'm not sure I fully understand your situation or your question.

I suggest you ask your ophthalmologist some simple questions such as what the name of your condition is and its prognosis.

As far as voc. rehab. for the visually impaired the requirements vary a bit from state to state, but most are federally funded. The important thing to remember w/ vocational rehab is that it takes time and patience. The rehab will be tailored to your specific needs. For example, if you're used to working at a computer, but can no longer see the screen you may have to learn to use JAWS or other similar screen readers, or you may just need a magnifier such as Zoomtext.

For more info visit your local division of Services for the Blind.

I hope this was somewhat helpful.