One of the most common questions we hear is whether patients need to travel to STAVI’s office for training. They don’t. Our Vision Rehabilitation Services are delivered by a trained Rehab Specialist in the setting where they matter most: your own home.

The process starts with a functional assessment to identify what’s actually difficult in your daily routine — reading, writing, managing finances, household chores, or keeping track of medications are common starting points. From there, your Rehab Specialist teaches techniques and introduces adaptive tools suited to your specific space and habits, not a generic checklist.

Beyond the practical skills, many patients find real value in STAVI’s vision rehabilitation support groups. Adjusting to vision loss carries an emotional weight that’s easy to underestimate, and connecting with others who are navigating the same changes has proven meaningful for many of the people we’ve worked with.

All of our rehabilitative services are provided free of charge as part of being referred to STAVI by your eye care professional. There’s no cost barrier to getting started — the only step is asking your eye doctor for that referral, or calling us directly to learn more about the process.

If you or someone you love has been putting off addressing vision loss because it feels like a hassle, in-home rehabilitation is designed to remove exactly that friction — no office visits required, no cost, and a plan built around your actual home and routine.

When people hear “assistive technology,” they often picture something expensive and complicated. In practice, most of the devices that make the biggest difference in daily life are simple, and funding is often available based on individual need.

For reading and writing: handheld and stand magnifiers, digital magnifiers, bold writing pens and paper, and writing guides (sometimes called a typo scope) help patients keep doing everyday paperwork — reading mail, filling out forms, writing checks — without straining to make out small print.

For daily tasks around the house: talking watches and clocks, large-number telephones, tactile label dots, and talking labels reduce the number of things that require sharp central vision just to get through a normal day. Task lighting and magnifying lamps can also make a bigger difference than people expect, simply by improving contrast.

For technology: screen readers and computer magnification software let patients keep using email, online banking, and the web. TV glasses and sun filter lenses address two very different but common complaints — trouble seeing the screen, and discomfort with glare.

The right combination is different for every patient, which is why our Rehab Specialists start with an assessment rather than a catalog. If you’re not sure whether a specific task — reading a prescription label, managing money, using a computer — has a device that could help, that’s exactly the kind of question to bring to us.

Low vision is a visual impairment that limits your ability to clearly read printed materials or recognize details at a distance, even while wearing your regular prescription glasses. It’s often caused by conditions like Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy, or Cataracts, and it can develop gradually enough that it’s mistaken for “just needing a stronger prescription.”

A good rule of thumb: if you’ve had your glasses updated and you’re still struggling to read your mail, recognize faces across a room, or safely move around your home, that’s worth mentioning to your eye care professional. Distorted or blurred vision that doesn’t improve with corrective lenses is one of the clearest signs that low vision services — not just a new prescription — may help.

The path into STAVI’s Low Vision Services starts with your eye doctor. They’ll send a referral based on a recent exam, ideally within the last 12 months, so our Low Vision Specialists are working from accurate, up-to-date information about your eyes.

From there, a Low Vision Specialist evaluates how much usable vision you have and prescribes the optical devices most likely to help — often a combination of magnification, lighting, and contrast tools rather than a single “fix.” A Vision Rehabilitation Therapist then works with you until you’re comfortable and independent using whatever’s been recommended.

None of this requires you to already know what device you need. That’s the point of the evaluation. If something in your daily routine — reading a prescription bottle, recognizing your grandchild’s face, paying a bill — has quietly gotten harder, it’s worth the conversation.