Visual Impairment is Not Blindness

□ Visual impairment is not necessarily blindness and the requirements of visually impaired persons are in many ways significantly different from those of blind persons. All too often agencies for the blind have not distinguished between these different requirements in providing services. The essential difference is that blind persons must rely on their other senses in order to function, while partially sighted persons must be helped to use whatever vision they have in coordination with their other senses. In providing services to partially sighted persons, the following basic principles should be considered: 1) Full service requires the cooperation of medical, physical, and behavioral specialists; 2) Services for partially sighted clients should be individualized on the basis of their differences in degree and quality of sight; 3) Whatever vision the client has should be augmented or strengthened through either mechanical or physical means; and 4) Clients should be helped to enhance their perception to its maximum functional potential.