April 30, 2009 
Partially sighted and people registered blind could be taught how to read and view objects using the undamaged parts of their eyes, according to researchers at the Macular Disease Society (MDS)…
The society has developed a training scheme for ‘eccentric viewing’ and ‘steady eye techniques’ which it believes will help people suffering from macular degeneration learn how to exploit their peripheral vision and allow them to read again.
Currently partially sighted and registered blind volunteers are receiving training which allows them to teach others with the disease to utilise this skill. Due to the high demand for trainers, the MDS is calling for professionals to adopt the system across the UK.
MDS chief executive Tom Bremridge, said: “Eccentric viewing works by making the most of their vision which remains. Our scheme has transformed lives – helping people to relearn basic skills they thought they had lost for good. These are priceless skills that help people stay independent, regain their confidence and self worth.
“However, the original ?201,000 funding for the Macular Disease Society’s eccentric viewing project is set to dry up by the summer of 2010. Being a small charity, we are finding it difficult to keep up with demand. We have 86 volunteer trainers, all with central vision loss themselves, who have trained more than 310 people in their own communities, and our waiting list of nearly 1,200 people grows every day. The society is therefore keen that other service providers – social services, private practitioners and primary care trusts – now take up the baton and start to incorporate eccentric viewing as part of an individual’s holistic low vision and rehabilitation package.”
The chairman of the scientific committee of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists Winfried Amoaku, added: “Research studies around the world have shown that eccentric viewing, though a relatively new phenomenon, can help some patients with central vision loss to cope with everyday tasks such as identifying coins while out shopping, watching television and reading the time. The trouble is, we don’t know who will benefit until they have tried the training.
“The college believes that all UK patients with central vision loss should have the opportunity to try the techniques to see if they can benefit.”
The society’s programme has been part-funded by donations from the Big Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, The Freemasons’ Grand Charity and the Garfield Weston Foundation.
* The inaugural UK eccentric viewing conference will be held at the Holiday Inn in Queensway, Birmingham on April 27. For more information telephone 01264 350551.
Taken from: www.otmagazine.co.uk