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There's a lot between people that are fully sighted and those that are totally blind. These people are called "high partials", "partially sighted", "visually impaired", "low vision persons", "legally blind" or "blind with sight", and I think the list still isn't complete. Terms like visual acuity and visual field may provide a little more clarity in understanding what a person with low vision sees, and so will learning about the person's eye condition. For instance, for people with Macular Degeneration, the central vision will be damaged, whereas people with Retinitis Pigmentosa usually have no or limited side vision. You may like to check out the following sources of information on low vision. Keep in mind, however, that no two persons with low vision see in the same way.

• Guide to Low Vision
• What You Should Know about Low Vision
• Low Vision Information
• Low Vision Defined
• Low Vision FAQ
• How Visual Acuity Is Measured
• Vision Simulators

When vision loss sets on, people often experience a period of grief and need to adjust to the new circumstances. People need to learn new skills and techniques and need to learn to handle their visual impairment psychologically and emotionally. However, if you're a recently blinded person, you should know that there are many people who have been where you are now, and they're usually eager to offer advice. You may be able to join a support group or local organisation for the visually impaired. To find an organisation in your area, you can use the Help Near You search engine by VisionConnection. There have also been a number of people who shared their experineces and tips in articles. You may enjoy the following:

• Living with Vision Loss
• Living with Low Vision (from Inside MS)
• Acceptance: Coming to Terms with Vision Impairment
• Low Vision: The Rules of the Game
• Coping with Vision Loss
• Saving Lives: The Impact of Vision Loss in Later Life
• Emotional Aspects of Vision Loss
• People with Vision Loss Share Coping Strategies

Persons with partial sight will often benefit from consulting with a low vision specialist. He or she can usually determine visual function of people with visual impairments more accurately than a regular ophthalmologist. A low vision specialist can also advise people on techniques and aids that will maximise their useable vision.

• On Becoming a Wise Consumer of Low Vision Services
• Low Vision Therapy
• What to Expect from a Low Vision Specialist
• Finding a Good Low-Vision Specialist
• What Occurs in a Low Vision Examination?

There are a number of products, aids and techniques that can help people who are partially sighted maximise thier abilities. Many people with low vision will benefit from learning alternative techniques like Braille and cane travel, but there are also specific low vision aids that will enhance people's visual function, and sometimes a simple adaptation may help:

• Low Vision Aids
• Low Vision Devices
• Low Vision Aids: When Problems Persist
• Lighting for Low Vision
• Understanding Magnification and Image Size
• Descriptions of Low Vision Magnifiers
• Low Vision and Monoculars
• Closed-Circuit Television Systems
• Making Text Legible: Designing for People with Partial Sight
• Watching TV with Low Vision
• BiOptic Driving Network

Being somewhere in the middle between sighted and blind, even when using low vision aids, can present with difficulties. As I already said, it is wise for many to learn the skills of blindness, such as Braille and cane travel. Sadly, many children with low vision are not taught these techniques, because it's assumed that they have enough vision to use visual techniques, although these techniques are often inefficient.

People with low vision may also feel that they need to be able to see, and therefore may pretend to see things they actually can't. They may feel that having more sight equals being more competent, which may on the one hand lead to inappropriate negative attitudes about the (totally) blind, but on the other hand may lead to a feeling of inferiority to the sighted and the partially sighted that happen to havemore vision, while with alternative techniques they don't need to be inferior in most respects.

When your eye condition is progressive, or when you experience secondary complications, you may also need to adjust. This may, as with the recently visually impaired adult, involve learning new skills like cane travel and Braille, but it is my and a lot of other legally blind persons' experience that even when you already have the skills of blindness, adjusting to further vision loss may be difficult.

Articles on coping with partial sight:

• When to Stop Relying on Low Vision
• Blindness and the Use of Partial Vision
• High Partial Is Still Blind
• My Long Journey from Partially Sighted to Really Blind
• The Danger of Passing
• Coping with Blindness
• Faking It No Longer
• The Emotional Impact of Vision Loss
• Am I Blind?
• Low Vision: Without Blindfolding

Family and friends make up an important part of one's support network, and hence play a large role in people's adjustment to vision loss - whether you're recently visually impaired or have had your vision impairment for a long time. However, for family members it may be difficult to understand your vision impairment and its implications. Fortunately, you can help your family better understand and support you, and there are also a number of good resources for family members of persons with low vision.

• Helping Family and Friends Understand Vision Loss
• Promises to Keep for Family and Friends of the Newly Blinded Person
• Sensitivity to People with Partial Eyesight
• Advice to Parents of Partially Sighted Children

Also in the educational system, partially sighted persons make up an often left-out community. Teachers and classroom aides need to take into consideration some things that apply neither to the sighted, nor to the blind. Here are some resources educators may find helpful:

• A Partially Sighted Child in the Classroom: Tips for Teachers
• Suggestions for Teachers of Partially Sighted Students
• Classroom Assignments and Activities for Partially Sighted Students