The ability to see deeply affects how human beings perceive and interpret the world around them. For most people, eyesight is part of everyday communication, social activities, educational and professional pursuits, the care of others, and the maintenance of personal health, independence, and mobility. Functioning eyes and vision system can reduce an adult's risk of chronic health conditions, death, falls and injuries, social isolation, depression, and other psychological problems. In children, properly maintained eye and vision health contributes to a child's social development, academic achievement, and better health across the lifespan. The public generally recognizes its reliance on sight and fears its loss, but emphasis on eye and vision health, in general, has not been integrated into daily life to the same extent as other health promotion activities, such as teeth brushing; hand washing; physical and mental exercise; and various injury prevention behaviors. A larger population health approach is needed to engage a wide range of stakeholders in coordinated efforts that can sustain the scope of behavior change. The shaping of socioeconomic environments can eventually lead to new social norms that promote eye and vision health. Making Eye Health a Population Health Imperative: Vision for Tomorrow proposes a new population-centered framework to guide action and coordination among various, and sometimes competing, stakeholders in pursuit of improved eye and vision health and health equity in the United States. Building on the momentum of previous public health efforts, this report also introduces a model for action that highlights different levels of prevention activities across a range of stakeholders and provides specific examples of how population health strategies can be translated into cohesive areas for action at federal, state, and local levels.

Kadence loves to bake cookies and hang out with friends. She's also partly blind. Kadence is real and so are her experiences. Learn about her life in this illustrated narrative nonfiction picture book for elementary students. Kids are naturally curious about differences and disabilities. Kadence sheds light on her life, with the help of experienced children's author Mari Schuh. She's not defined by visual impairment, but she does some things differently than sighted people. Beautiful illustrations and a dyslexic-friendly font promote accessibility. Includes tips for kids about interacting with someone who is blind.

'Living with Blind Dogs', now in its second edition, is the only published resource book on this topic. It embodies helpful hints from dozens of blind-dog owners, as well as years of ophthalmic nursing, veterinary, and dog training experiences. Both the veterinary community and dog owners alike continue to praise this text, in which Levin successfully answers the common question: "What do I do now?"

A deeply touching and uplifting view of the world through different eyes, and a roadmap to finding bliss in the simplest of things. Zena Cooper lives a full life, in which she uses her senses to examine and explore the world around her. She does all that without one thing many of us take for granted: sight. Born with Marfan syndrome, a connective tissue disorder that means she is almost completely blind, Zena kept the extent of her condition hidden from the world for four decades. That was until Munch - a guide dog full of personality - took up residence in her life and, almost overnight, a disability she had been hiding for years was suddenly clear for all to see. What You See When You Can't See follows Zena's journey in accepting her limitations. A qualified integrative counsellor, she shares her unique model to reset negative thought patterns, along with tools to help anyone reshape their narrative. Zena asks her readers to find beauty in their own adversity. With Munch at the heart of her experience, this book explores the possibility of an amplified life, no matter your circumstances.

In the author's words . . . When I graduated in 1978 from the University of the South, I cherished the ideal behind the inscription in Sewanee's university seal. Ecce quam bonum-the first lines of Psalm 133, "Behold, how good it is." But as I entered the adult world of commerce and culture, there were too few times when I actually beheld the good. The world seemed far too harsh to me, so full of inequality and conflict. I had to dig deep for the strength and determination to keep going. Thirty-five years later, however, my perception of that collegiate instruction-to see the good-carries a very different meaning. Struggle, controversy, disappointment are integral to life, certainly, yet, within the nature of that harsh reality, I now also find bright dimensions of meaning and hope. Joy and love are, in fact, ever-present in our circumstances . . . whatever those circumstances may be. Sue W. Martin, eqb, September 2013 Sue Wiygul Martin has written a deeply honest and moving account of the rebuilding of her life after a desperate, impetuous act in her youth ended in traumatic blindness. Since that day, she has greeted the world with her trademark determination and humor, accepting each new day of challenge while squarely facing the issues attending her post-traumatic adjustment. Now, after more than thirty years of an extraordinary recovery and reconciliation with the past, Martin is ready to share the simple truth of her journey. Martin's truth is a universal truth, one which is so easy to lose sight of-each and every person, man or woman, has a story worth telling. We are all the same, yet so beautifully different. So, fasten your seat belts. Sue Martin would like to take you on a wild ride through this life of hers. Get ready for some joy, sorrow, beauty, a few cosmic slaps of enlightenment, and a thousand other thoughts and feelings along the way.

Long Time, No See is certainly an inspiring story, but Beth Finke does not aim to inspire. Eschewing reassuring platitudes and sensational pleas for sympathy, she charts her struggles with juvenile diabetes, blindness, and a host of other hardships, sharing her feelings of despair and frustration as well as her hard-won triumphs. Rejecting the label “courageous,” she prefers to describe herself using the phrase her mother invoked in times of difficulty: “She did what she had to do.” With unflinching candor and acerbic wit, Finke chronicles the progress of the juvenile diabetes that left her blind at the age of twenty-six as well as the seemingly endless spiral of adversity that followed. First she was forced out of her professional job. Then she bore a multiply handicapped son. But she kept moving forward, confronting marital and financial problems and persevering through a rocky training period with a seeing-eye dog. Finke’s life story and her commanding knowledge of her situation give readers a clear understanding of diabetes, blindness, and the issues faced by parents of children with significant disabilities. Because she has taken care to include accurate medical information as well as personal memoir, Long Time, No See serves as an excellent resource for others in similar situations and for professionals who deal with disabled adults or children.