A perspective of workers with visual impairment

Changes in vision may be insidious and for many people living with visual impairment (VI), they are a hidden disability. The severity of vision loss may not be overtly evident, and people with VI often do not want others to know about their vision changes or associated challenges with occupational performance. Empirical evidence reports that more than 50% of the cortex is devoted to processing visual information, and there are more neurons dedicated to vision than to the other senses combined (Hutmacher, 2019). Yet, although people with VI may receive eye care services from an ophthalmologist or optometrist, they are often not referred to rehabilitation, or receive any type of vision-related service to address occupational dysfunction until they have significant activity limitations or participation restrictions. For the worker role, VI may begin to affect successful employment and earnings through lost workdays and/or changes in productivity, skills, and abilities.