If you are a medical professional serving a person who is blind, consider that you are the light in the dark who can give hope.

When you inform your patients that they are going blind or will be visually impaired, do it in a way that provides compassion and optimism. All is not lost.

Provide the resources below (and more) for someone who has just learned about their permanent loss of sight.

• National Federation of the Blind
• The American Council for the Blind
• Foundation Fighting Blindness
• Google “Rehabilitation Services for the Blind” (these are typically available in practically every city).

Don’t let your patients leave your office feeling like they have to spend their lives sitting at home in the dark eating beans from a can. Let them know that, though devastating, they still can read, attend movies, and have a good quality of life.

Naturally, your patients who are blind will have to grieve. Will it be different than before? Yes. However, people who are blind or visually impaired do the same things as sighted people, they just do them differently. Your patients will be living without sight, but that doesn’t mean they have to live without vision.