Believe it Or Not...Weird and Wonderful News in Eyecare...

NHS UK Eye Care News

Sight problems ten times more likely in people with learning disabilities

The all party parliamentary groups on eye health, visual impairment and learning disability held a joint meeting on Tuesday 17 January to discuss recent research by leading sight loss charities SeeAbility and the RNIB.

The purpose of the meeting was to raise awareness among parliamentarians of the research, which found that:

There are one million adults with a learning disability in the UK
People with learning disabilities are ten times more likely to have serious sight problems than other people. People with severe or profound learning disabilities are most likely to have sight problems
Six in ten people with learning disabilities need glasses and often need support to get used to them
There will be a 10% increase in people with learning disabilities and sight loss over the next 20 years

New tool launched to help young patients understand the eye

A new online resource developed by Moorfields to help practitioners explain eye conditions and treatments to children and young people has been launched.

The resource features interactive eye images, games and stories, which are all free to play online or download.