Facts About Blindness

 Many persons with sight problems of a lesser magnitude than those above, may still have serious difficulty seeing under certain conditions, such as when the lighting is poor. or on a cloudy day. Would you consider yourself visually impaired or blind? Read on to find out more
Visual impairment, or blindness, is officially defined as visual acuity / sharpness of 20/70 vision or less in the better eye after corrective measures or a visual field of 20 degrees or less. This means that what a sighted person can see at 70ft someone who is visually impaired can see at 20ft.
Legal blindness refers to viIn other words,  persons are deemed to be legally blind, Visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye after best correction (that is, while wearing prescribed eyeglasses or contact lenses), or a visual field of 20 degrees or less with best correction.  can see at 20 feet or less (with glasses or contact lens if these have been prescribed),
Additionally, persons who  loss of peripheral sight, or side vision.  can only see what is straight in front of them (that is, 20 degrees, or less instead of the entire 180 degrees), are said to have tunnel vision. Such persons are deemed legally blind, even though their central vision may be quite good.  Most people take their sight for granted. The ability to recognize colours, shapes and sizes; to observe changes in facial expressions, scenery and the physical layout of the surroundings are all considered a right. There are, however, thousands of persons in Jamaica who live without their sight. A small number of these persons were born blind while most lost their sight later in life.
In the 2001 census approximately 1% of the population identified themselves as being blind. If we use the 1% figure it means that, today, there are over 28,000 persons who are blind living in Jamaica. In addition, there are over 89,000 persons with low vision.
Some blind or visually impaired persons go through life with little chance of receiving the help they need to lead normal productive lives. However, there are other blind and visually impaired persons who have been fortunate to receive assistance from the Jamaica Society for the Blind (JSB). As a result of this, they now lead very productive lives as individuals in the home, school, the workplace, their community and the wider Jamaican society. Please help us to continue making a difference in the lives of --- who are in need of assistance.