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Strategies to Improve Visual Activity
Following are general strategies to help individuals who have difficulties with visual acuity:
- When visual acuity is impaired, the most effective compensatory approach may be the use of refractive lenses, as prescribed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist.
- It may be helpful to use a magnifying sheet or magnifying lenses to enlarge stimuli.
- Visual stimuli can also be enlarged by reprinting or photocopying material into larger form.
- A computer monitor can also be used to enlarge text or graphics.
- When working on a computer, provide a greater contrast between the background and target stimuli (e.g., present a dark stimuli on a white background).
- Apply bright tape to corners of rooms and furniture, the edge of stairs, or other environmental features that require rapid detection.
- To improve the ability to discriminate objects in the environment, it is recommended that patterned wall and floor coverings be replaced with solid, higher contrast colors.
- Adjust the lighting to allow adequate but not overwhelming brightness. Glare can be reduced by providing tinted or treated lenses and by using colored transparent overlays (especially yellow).
- Provide motion detection lighting to individuals who experience difficulties finding or reaching light switches, thereby limiting the need to visually locate lamps and light switches.
- For individuals with low visual acuity, it is often helpful to present only single words or stimuli given that the density of stimuli (i.e., the number of stimuli presented in a given space, such as a page) can also impact detection of stimuli.
- Reduce clutter in the environment to help improve detection of stimuli.
- For individuals with double vision, patching of an eye (i.e., occlusion) can help improve detection of objects in the environment.
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