Similar to a practicing low vision therapist, the GuideMe Book for age-related macular degeneration gathers personal information from the client, then offers guidance and resources unique to the client’s personal needs and goals.
Prevent Blindness, a patient advocacy organization preserving vision and eye health for more than 115 years, continues to give the gift of living well with low vision. One of its most recent offerings is the free GuideMe Book for people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). An online questionnaire first poses 21 questions about the reader’s condition, daily challenges, and available resources. Then, following the model of a professional low vision therapist, it creates an easy-to-read 28-page publication of all pertinent options for maintaining or improving upon a client’s specific necessities and desires. The book may be read online or saved in portable document format (PDF).
All information is anonymous, collected privately, and none of it is stored or shared. The reader may also return to the GuideMe site to edit as circumstances change. The book’s biggest asset is that it targets only those areas that pertain to the user, which eliminates frustration and time searching through irrelevant material. To help the reader’s understanding, a large glossary of ophthalmic terms is also included.
The GuideMe book is not intended to replace a low vision therapist, since there is nothing better than human interaction. It is instead meant to be a first step for patients who are unable or unready to benefit from low vision rehabilitation.
To learn more about the GuideMe book for AMD and to create a personal copy, visit https://lowvision.preventblindness.org/macular-degeneration-guide/.