What level of nearsightedness is legally blind?

If you’re legally blind, your vision is 20/200 or less in your better eye or your field of vision is less than 20 degrees. That means if an object is 200 feet away, you have to stand 20 feet from it in order to see it clearly.

Are there different levels of blindness?

In the U.S., there are four terms used to describe different levels of vision impairment and blindness—partially sighted, low vision, legally blind and totally blind. Partially sighted means a person has partial vision, either in one or both eyes.

What is considered extreme nearsightedness?

What is High Myopia? Doctors generally define high myopia as nearsightedness of -6 diopters or higher, according to the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus. The Association also notes that high myopia often occurs in people with very long eyes, and typically appears during early childhood.

What are the stages of blindness?

Definitions

• Mild –visual acuity worse than 6/12 to 6/18.
• Moderate –visual acuity worse than 6/18 to 6/60.
• Severe –visual acuity worse than 6/60 to 3/60.
• Blindness –visual acuity worse than 3/60.

Is short sighted a disability?

Myopia is not a disability. Also called nearsightedness, myopia is a common refractive error of the eye that causes distant objects to appear blurry.

What is considered partially sighted?

You may be registered as partially sighted if your visual acuity is between 3/60 and 6/60 with a full field of vision, or up to 6/18 (18 is the number of the fourth line down the chart) if your field of vision is very restricted.

What are categories of blindness?

Table 1

What is legal blindness (20/200 vision)?

Part 1 of the U.S. definition of legal blindness states this about visual acuity: A visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better-seeing eye with best conventional correction (meaning with regular glasses or contact lenses). This is a 20/200 visual acuity measurement, correlated with the Snellen Eye Chart (pictured above):

How far away can a legally blind person see?

When using an eye chart, you can see clearly at 20 feet away what a person with “normal” vision can see clearly at 10 feet away. 20/200 – This is the level at which you are considered to be legally blind.

How many people in the world are blind or visually impaired?

Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a vision impairment or blindness, of whom at least 1 billion have a vision impairment that could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed.

How many people are affected by near or distance vision impairment?

Key facts Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment. In at least 1 billion – or almost half – of these cases, vision impairment could have been prevented or has yet to be addressed. The leading causes of vision impairment and blindness are uncorrected refractive errors and cataracts.