Blindness

[darkshadedlover]

Can you be considered legally blind in one eye and if so at what point is that? I was told today my 8 yr old would most likely be completely blind in right eye and completely blind in both by 15 he has JRA and has had eye surgery and done patches the last hope is daily dialation in good eye to try to save right eye but I do not completely understand at what point is blind and can you be legally blind in one eye?

[darkshadedlover]

He is being seen by a pediatric ophthalmologist at Callahan eye foundation and thank you so much for the info..

[Houman Vosoghi, MD]

You need to make sure your child is under the care of a university based (well known and reputable) ophthalmology group with a good Uveitis specialist and a good pediatric ophthalmologist.  You can ask his ophthalmologist what his current vision is and compare to description by berrywoo which is correct.  You can also be considered partially disabled if the vision in one eye is worse than 20/200.  If the visual field in the better eye subtends an angle less than 20 degrees you can also be considered legally blind in some states (even if vision is 20/20).

HV

[berrywoo]

legal blindness in the U.S. is 20/200 best correct vision in the better seeing eye. This means that if you have 2 eyes with vision, one eye will have at best (with glasses and/or contacts if prescribed) 20/200 acuity, and the other eye will be worse than 20/200 (again wearing glasses and/or contacts), if the other eye has vision better than 20/200 the person is NOT legally blind. Legal blindness is also met with a visual field of 20 degrees or less.

Examples...if a person has the following best corrected visual acuities:
1. Right eye (O.D.): 20/200  Left eye (O.S.): 20/100  the person is NOT legally blind.
2. O.D.: 20/100   O.S.: LP (light perception)  NOT legally blind
3. O.D.: 20/200   O.S.: CF (count fingers) Legally blind
4. O.D.: 20/200   O.S.: 20/400 Legally blind

Hope this helps