Can Ocular Albinism be Corrected with Prescription Glasses?

Your vision is one of the most essential and indispensable of all your senses. It plays a key role in overcoming daily life challenges, beginning from when you learn to read and write as a child, to becoming a fully independent adult capable of looking after yourself.

But if Ocular Albinism steals your privilege to sight, what are your chances for a normal life?

In the US, around 12 million people (above 40 years of age) have vision impairment, of which 3 million people have defective vision despite the use of corrective devices, and another 4.2 million suffer from uncorrectable vision impairment.

If you are diagnosed with Ocular Albinism, you fall among the latter group whose vision impairment cannot be corrected by any ordinary corrective device. Ocular Albinism typically includes several visual difficulties that range from mild to severe levels. 

The extent of vision loss varies across different types of Ocular Albinism. In most cases, the deficits cannot be corrected with prescription glasses, contacts, or surgery alone.

Since Albinism is a group of inherited disorders, it does not have an ultimate cure, the visual abnormalities can be alleviated by minor corrective procedures, such as therapy for strabismus, nystagmus, etc., and low vision aids.

So, can corrective glasses improve low vision with Ocular Albinism?

Yes and no. 

Yes, the visual deficits in Ocular Albinism can be corrected with glasses, but No ordinary prescription glasses have the high corrective range required for them, rather they can only be covered by Electronic Low Vision Glasses.

Electronic glasses are state-of-the-art low vision aids that are designed specifically for low vision correction. These electronic low vision glasses share a few common features with regular prescription glasses, but while prescription glasses can not correct low vision, electronic glasses do that effectively and are unique in their characteristic to restore vision even for people who are legally blind.

If you or a loved one is diagnosed with Ocular Albinism, and have difficulty seeing then your visual impairment can be catered with the use of Electronic Low Vision Glasses.