Background Research groups and funding agencies need a functional assessment suitable for an ultra-low vision population in order to evaluate the impact of new vision restoration treatments. The purpose of this study was to develop a pilot assessment to capture the functional vision ability and well-being of subjects whose vision has been partially restored with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System. Methods The Functional Low-Vision Observer Rated Assessment (FLORA) pilot assessment involved a self-report section, a list of functional vision tasks for observation of performance, and a case narrative summary. Results were analyzed to determine whether the interview questions and functional vision tasks were appropriate for this ultra-low vision population and whether the ratings suffered from floor or ceiling effects. Thirty subjects with severe to profound retinitis pigmentosa (bare light perception or worse in both eyes) were enrolled in a clinical trial and implanted with the Argus II System. From this population, twenty-six subjects were assessed with the FLORA. Seven different evaluators administered the assessment. Results All 14 interview questions were asked. All 35 functional vision tasks were selected for evaluation at least once, with an average of 20 subjects being evaluated for each test item. All four rating options -- impossible (33%), difficult (23%), moderate (24%) and easy (19%) -- were used by the evaluators. Evaluators also judged the amount of vision they observed the subjects using to complete the various tasks, with vision only occurring 75% on average with the System ON, and 29% with the System OFF. Conclusion The first version of the FLORA was found to contain useful elements for evaluation and to avoid floor and ceiling effects. The next phase of development will be to refine the assessment and to establish reliability and validity to increase its value as a functional vision and well-being assessment tool.

Through national survey research, this study explored low vision mobility problems, including the effects of different lighting conditions and the relationship between the reported perceptions of mobility practitioners and persons with low vision.

Describes techniques for evaluating a multiply impaired child's functional level of vision and gives a sequence of vision stimulation for those children found to have vision. Stresses the importance of creativity and flexibility on the part of the teacher and underscores the need for piecing together whatever functional information the child may reveal to various individuals, including parent, educator, and doctor.

This national study reviews national and state policies and guidelines, as well as surveys and focus groups of administrators and teachers, on the implementation of policies for students with low vision to gain visual access to the general education curriculum. The findings demonstrate that few states provide the necessary services to enable students to achieve access and that people, philosophy, and systems are the main impediments to and the solutions for change.

This article suggests that a 21st century public health perspective on community needs and resource mobilization in vision impairment be grounded in a holistic concept of the community. This perspective should recognize the nature and magnitude of blindness and visual impairment within the significant technological, demographic, political, and sociocultural changes that characterize today's complex community structures. These changing community dynamics are linked with strategies for organizing and mobilizing resources. The article concludes with three propositions and a call for political action to transform our currently fragmented system of providing services into an integrated strategy for the 21st century.