People who are visually impaired do not all see the world in exactly the same way.
Blindness is more of a broad category than a narrowly defined disorder.
Total Blindness
Those who are totally blind see absolutely no light.
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Doctors will record this as “NLP” for no light perception.
Most people who have impaired vision have some remaining sight.
Just 15% of people with an eye disorder actually fall into the totally blind category.
Blindness with light perception makes visual ability strictly limited to differentiating light from dark.
Having either of these impairments would define a person as legally blind.
Of those age 40 or older, nearly 1.3 million Americans fit the definition of legally blind.
Meanwhile, some vision charts measure vision between 20/100 and 20/200.
A number of different conditions can lead to becoming legally blind.
A May 2014 study showed that people who are blind report fewer visual dream impressions than their sighted counterparts.
American Foundation for the Blind.Low vision and legal blindness terms and descriptions.
Cleveland Clinic,Low vision, October 15, 2020.
American Academy of Ophthalmology,Eye health statistics.
Bright Focus Foundation,Eye diseases that can cause legal blindness, November 16, 2020.
2014 May;15(5):586-95. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2013.12.008
