Pinellas County nonprofit helps vision-impaired patients

LARGO, Fla. — Experts say changes in vision can be a part of aging, but significant declines in vision or complete vision loss can be a result of serious medical conditions.

Those can include glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration — which are the leading causes of blindness in adults, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Each year, millions of Americans who have seen through clear eyes all their lives suddenly find themselves in a gray area, unsure if or when they will permanently lose their vision. And if they do, learning to adapt both literally and emotionally.

Using sound and technology as guides, Lighthouse of Pinellas County is helping adults continue to lead active lives.

More than 20 years ago, John Benjamin, a husband, father of four children, and an IT specialist, learned he had Stargardt Disease, a rare form of juvenile macular degeneration that causes progressive loss of central vision.

According to the NIH, an estimated 20 million Americans suffered from some form of macular degeneration last year, with roughly 1.5 million experiencing a threat of total vision lost from the disease.  

But for Benjamin, it’s more than learning how to do day-to-day things with poor vision — he wants to continue to provide for his family.

Through the organization’s vocational rehab program, clients like Benjamin learn how to use assistive technology to help them maintain or gain employment.   

Instructor Jessica Tomlinson is responsible for teaching the more than 250 adult clients that the Lighthouse serves each year.

“Teaching the brain to process and prioritize things through different inputs can be challenging,” she said.

Listening becomes a priority, as well as memorization.

“It involves reading a small portion, sticking that in a corner of your memory, reading another small portion, putting it together with what you’ve already read, reading a third small portion, adding that to which you’ve already read,” Tomlinson said. “That’s a very mentally intensive task for a lot of people.”

She said going through that process can be emotional, with people often feeling fear, embarrassment and uncertainty.

“Life can still be really fulfilling and really colorful, and it takes courage,” she said. “But one needs to take the things that they really enjoy doing and find a way to get them to this new reality.”

It’s now a reality for Benjamin that involves a cane, less driving, and reliance on adaptative technology. But he said humans are resilient and that’s exactly what he intends to be.