D L A for the regitered blind

nannytone_2

I'm sure I read somewhere that from October, D L A will be contacting eligable people for when the rules on HRM change next April.
Does anyone know if this is the case or did i just imagine it?

Js_Other_Half

http://www.rnib.org.uk/livingwithsightloss/yourmoney/benefits/Pages/dla.aspx

"March 2009, however the Government announced that the qualifying criteria for the higher rate of DLA mobility will be changed and this is likely to be implemented in 2011.

The new rules have not yet been published but it is likely that people with a very severe sight loss will qualify for the higher rate. Until the rules are changed, if you have a very severe sight loss you are likely to only qualify for the lower rate. "

Indie_Kid

I've just looked on the RNIB site and can't find it.

TheBottomLine_2

Here you go.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/yourmoney/dla/Pages/who_is_eligible.aspx

nannytone_2

thanks!
ok anotgher question.

what is acuity?
(excuse my ignorance. i have a genetic condition that no one else in my family suffers from. i was diagnosed at 12 but its never been properly explained. when i developed cataracts i was told it was part of my condition, but they never told me it was! i'm now totally colour blind and have been told its part of my condition too...........so why didnt anyone ever tell me? lol gotta laugh or you'd cry!)

Indie_Kid

It's those numbers. When you have your eyes tested and can read a certain amount of line, the acuity refers to the line you can read up to. Mine is 6/36 (second line) & 6/18. (fourth line)

From RNIB:
visual acuity: your central vision, the vision you use to see detail
visual field: how much you can see around the edge of your vision, while looking straight ahead.
Your visual acuity is measured by reading down an eye chart while wearing any glasses or contact lenses that you may need. This is known as a Snellen test. Your field of vision is measured by a 'field of vision test'.
Measuring your visual acuity and visual field helps the ophthalmologist to decide whether you are eligible to be registered as severely sight impaired (blind) or sight impaired (partially sighted).

On the Snellen scale, normal visual acuity is called 6 / 6, which corresponds to the bottom or second bottom line of the chart. If you can only read the top line of the chart then this would be written as 6 / 60. This means you can see at 6 metres what someone with standard vision could see from 60 metres away.

The figures 6 / 60 or 3 / 60 are how the result of a Snellen test are written. The first number given is the distance in metres from the chart you sit when you read it. Usually this is a 6 (for 6 metres) but would be 3 if you were to sit closer to the chart, ie 3 metres away.

The second number corresponds to the number of lines that you are able to read on the chart. The biggest letters, on the top line, correspond to 60. As you read down the chart, the numbers that correspond to the lines get smaller, ie 36, 18, 12, 9 and 6. The bottom line of the chart corresponds to the number 6. Someone with standard vision who can read to the bottom of the chart would have vision of 6 / 6.

Taking mine, what I can see at meters, someone with standard (6/6) vision can see at 36 meters.

nannytone_2

thanks.

i can definately read 3 lines on the chart, and i have a good stab at the 4th line.
my peripheral vision has been gone for years now.
the quality of my central vision is impaired but on a sight test, with the nice bold letters on a lit background, i dont think i do too badly. but i cant identify a person i know if theyre more than 10 feet away unless they speak.
i dont know where that leaves me really.

LittleTinker

That is how it is for most people who have short sightedness though.....in fact my OH cannot recognise someone who is stood 5 feet away.

Is it not correctable with glasses or an operation?

Indie_Kid

People who are registered as partially sighted or blind have conditions that can't be corrected by glasses - hence the registration. Short-sightedness (I have it too) can be corrected by glasses - damage to the nerves and muscles (short version of what I have) can't.

LittleTinker

sh1305 wrote: »

People who are registered as partially sighted or blind have conditions that can't be corrected by glasses - hence the registration. Short-sightedness (I have it too) can be corrected by glasses - damage to the nerves and muscles (short version of what I have) can't.

Yes, I know that.....I was asking Nanny what her condition was and whether it is correctable.

nannytone_2

i have retinitis pigmentosa. its a degnerative condition not treatable.