Low Vision Rehabilitation: A Practical Guide for Occupational Therapists

Low vision rehabilitation is rapidly growing as a specialty practice for occupational therapists. This growth requires practical, evidence-based information on the evaluation and treatment of the effects of low vision on occupational performance. Responding to this need, Low Vision Rehabilitation: A Practical Guide for Occupational Therapists blends standards of practice that have been developed over 50 years by low vision therapists and optometrists, with the latest scientific research and the unique perspective of occupational therapists.

Low Vision Rehabilitation presents an emerging model in which occupational therapists practice as part of a team of vision rehabilitation professionals serving adults with low vision. Occupational therapists offer a unique contribution to the vision rehabilitation team, with a focus on meaningful occupational goals, the incorporation of occupation into therapy, and the orchestration of environmental, social, and non-visual personal factors into a treatment plan. Mitchell Scheiman, Maxine Scheiman, and Stephen Whittaker have developed a practical and straightforward text outlining an evaluation approach to interventions that focus on recovering occupational performance in adults.

Special features • Incorporates concepts from the AOTA Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process • Provides most of the core knowledge required for the ACVREP low vision certification examination and AOTA specialty certification in low vision • Includes an occupational therapy vision rehabilitation evaluation consisting of four components: occupational profile/case history, evaluation of visual factors, environmental evaluation, evaluation of occupational performance • Emphasizes intervention and low vision rehabilitation treatment including modification of the environment, use of non-optical assistive devices, use of optical devices, and use of computer technology • Provides valuable information on how to start an independent practice in low vision rehabilitation • Includes chapters on diabetic management and electronic assistive technology • Includes access to a companion website with printable forms and additional resources with text purchase

Written by authors who are optometrists, occupational therapists, researchers, and certified low vision therapists (CLVT), Low Vision Rehabilitation employs an interdisciplinary perspective that is unique, practical, and credible.

Mitchell Scheiman, OD, FAAO, FCOVD Dr. Mitchell Scheiman is a nationally known optometric educator, lecturer, author, and private practitioner. He is the author of Understanding and Managing Visual Deficits: A Guide for Occupational Therapists, published by SLACK Incorporated. Dr. Scheiman has a long and close relationship with occupational therapists. He works closely with occupational therapists in his practice comanaging patients, and more than 5,000 occupational therapists have attended his workshops on Understanding and Managing Vision Deficits. He has specialized in vision rehabilitation of children and adults for the past 30 years. Dr. Scheiman is currently a Professor of Optometry at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry. He is a Diplomate in Binocular Vision and Perception and a Fellow in the College of Optometrists in Vision Development.

Maxine Scheiman, MEd, OTR/L, CLVT After working as a learning disabilities specialist for many years, Maxine decided to change careers and in 1988 graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia as an occupational therapist. She has been practicing as an occupational therapist for about 18 years and has worked in many different settings including acute care and rehabilitation hospitals, school occupational therapy, early intervention, and low vision rehabilitation. In 2000, Maxine became interested in low vision rehabilitation and she attended the Rehabilitation Teaching program at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in Philadelphia. After becoming certified as a low vision therapist, she has worked as a low vision rehabilitation therapist helping patients with visual impairment. She is currently owner of Visual Function Rehabilitation Associates and is a certified low vision therapist.

Stephen G. Whittaker, PhD, FAAO, OTR/L, CLVT Involved in low vision rehabilitation for over 25 years as a researcher, educator, and practitioner, Dr. Steve Whittaker currently serves as a member of the Low Vision Certification committee of the Academy of Certification of Vision Rehabilitation Professionals. He has numerous scientific publications, has received grants from the National Eye Institute and NASA, and lectures internationally on low vision rehabilitation. With a doctorate in experimental psychology, and postdoctoral training in visual neurophysiology, Dr. Whittaker began studying eye movements and reading with macular degeneration while he served on the faculty of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry as a researcher and educator for 20 years. He, along with Dr. Jan Lovie-Kitchin, published a seminal work on the visual requirements for reading that later earned the Gordon Clay award as the most influential paper published in an optometric journal over a 5-year period. He served as coordinator of the low vision technology service at the William Feinbloom Low Vision Rehabilitation Center. Dr. Whittaker earned his masters in Occupational Therapy at Thomas Jefferson University. He currently provides outpatient services including low vision rehabilitation at Moss Rehabilitation Hospital in the Philadelphia area.