What is the legal definition of blindness?

Legal blindness occurs when a person has central visual acuity (vision that allows a person to see straight ahead of them) of 20/200 or less in his or her better eye with correction. With 20/200 visual acuity, a person can see at 20 feet, what a person with 20/20 vision sees at 200 feet.

What is the criteria for legal blindness?

Visual acuity less than 20/200 is considered legally blind, but to actually fit the definition, the person must not be able to attain 20/200 vision even with prescription eyewear. Many people who would be legally blind without eyewear can function well in everyday life with appropriate glasses or contact lenses.

What are the 4 leading causes of legal blindness?

The leading causes of blindness and low vision in the United States are primarily age-related eye diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, cataract, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma.

What are the blindness categories?

Definitions

• Mild –visual acuity worse than 6/12 to 6/18.
• Moderate –visual acuity worse than 6/18 to 6/60.
• Severe –visual acuity worse than 6/60 to 3/60.
• Blindness –visual acuity worse than 3/60.

What is considered legally blind prescription?

What prescription is considered legally blind? Legal blindness is defined as 20/200 vision. The prescription equivalent is -2.5.

What are the three types of blindness?

Some of these are treatable or preventable with timely examination and treatment. There are three commonly other types of blindness: Colour blindness, night blindness and snow blindness.

Is 20 80 considered legally blind?

Putting This Into Perspective… With 20/40 vision, a person can pass a driver’s license test. With 20/80 vision, a person still might be able to read a large newspaper headline. With 20/200 vision, a person is considered legally blind.

Are there different levels of blindness?

In the U.S., there are four terms used to describe different levels of vision impairment and blindness—partially sighted, low vision, legally blind and totally blind.

How is legal blindness defined?

How is legal blindness defined? In the United States, legal blindness is based on measurements of central visual acuity (what’s directly in front of you) and field of vision (what’s above, below and to the sides).

What are the criteria for measuring legal blindness?

Update: In 2007, the Social Security Administration updated the criteria for measuring legal blindness when using newer low vision test charts with lines that can measure visual acuity between 20/100 and 20/200.

What is the difference between 20/20 vision and legal blindness?

With 20/200 visual acuity, a person can see at 20 feet, what a person with 20/20 vision sees at 200 feet. In determining legal blindness, visual field (the part of a person’s vision that enables them to see what is happening to the side of them) is also considered. A visual field of 20 degrees or less is considered to be legally blind.

Why do people go legally blind?

There are many reasons why you could be born with a visual disability or become legally blind during your lifetime. The four leading causes of legal blindness in the United States are age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), cataracts, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma.