Should I register as partially sighted?

loulou73

Hi everyone am 44 suffer from cp since birth battling with a lot of issues frustrated my sight is getting worse (-4 & -6) should I register as parishlly sighted ? Please advise 
Loulou 

Alex

Hi loulou,

Welcome to the community. According to RNIB:

To be certified as sight impaired (partially sighted) your sight has to fall into one of the following categories, while wearing any glasses or contact lenses that you may need:

• Visual acuity of 3 / 60 to 6 / 60 with a full field of vision.

• Visual acuity of up to 6 / 24 with a moderate reduction of field of vision or with a central part of vision that is cloudy or blurry.

• Visual acuity of 6 / 18 or even better if a large part of your field of vision, for example a whole half of your vision, is missing or a lot of your peripheral vision is missing.

  
  

http://www.rnib.org.uk/eye-health-registering-your-sight-loss/criteria-certification

There seem to by quite a few benefits to registering if the above apply - you could get extra support with everyday tasks and discounts on certain things (like TV licenses). More information on that here:

http://www.rnib.org.uk/eye-health/registering-your-sight-loss

Nystagmite

Being -4 and -6 won't be enough. How many lines can you read corrected?

mikehughescq

Being registered has many advantages but one of the great myths is that the above cited is the only way to be registered. An opth. or specialist can register you if they believe it would be to your benefit. Many places do this automatically. Most have no clue it's even an option. 

There was some research done on why people don't get offered registration more often and one of the things to be aware of is that medics see it as being at the end of what they do not the beginning. They offer it only when they perceive there's nothing else to be done. 

I have never regretted being registered but you have to be prepared to push for it.