Learn more at the American Academy of Optometry website.
Please note:
Be wary of doctors or others who advertise low vision services. There are , unfortunately, some unscrupulous individuals who will take advantage of desperate disabled patients. Most Diplomates do NOT advertise.
Most doctors will advertise on a limited basis when they open or expand an office. The type of advertisers to be wary of are those who advertise on radio or television.
In addition, there are practitioners who limit their prescribing to Designs for Vision Wearable telescopes or to one particular type of headborne video magnifier. These are all valid Low Vision devices, but we recommend avoiding limited approaches like this as they will charge you a lot more money for solutions, and you may not be told about solutions that might work as well or of better for a lot less money. Some of these practices also charge prices for devices that are many times higher than one would pay elsewhere. I have seen patients who have paid $500 or more for a pair of glasses that would have cost around $150 almost anywhere else. There are no laws prohibiting charging high prices. Our practice is set up to charge appropriately for our service and not to gouge patients who need special low vision devices.
A simple caveat applies:
You wouldn’t go to a brain surgeon who advertised on the radio or in the newspaper, why would you take your eyes there?
Due to lax state laws, there are also stores that sell CCTV’s that promote themselves as Low Vision Centers, even though there are no doctors on the premises.
They are generally in business to sell you the most expensive devices they can because they work on commission. When our practice recommends such devices, we send you directly to the regional representative of the company that makes the device. This potentially saves patients hundreds of dollars.
While many of these stores are nice people, many in fact are visually impaired themselves, you must always ask yourself if the device they are recommending is for your benefit, or for theirs.
Because they are not doctors and have no advanced training in refraction and optics, they are only familiar with optical devices on a very superficial level, and direct everyone to the expensive options.
Low Vision Centers run by Lay People
There are also Low Vision of Magnifier stores run by untrained individuals increasingly found across the country. Some are even run by Lions Clubs or non-profit agencies. While many of these are run by well meaning individuals, they have no professional training in eye care and cannot legally offer the full range of prescription devices available. Many are also strictly run as for profit businesses and they may be more interested in your money than in helping you. Buyer – beware.
LOW VISION DIPLOMATES
Click here for more info about these doctors from the American Academy of Optometry Website.
- Sarah D Appel, OD, FAAO Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus West Windsor, NJ, United States Carol L Barron, FAAO Deerfield, IL, United States
- Lisa Chan-O’Connell, OD, FAAO NY Harbor Healthcare Systems Brooklyn VAMC Brooklyn, NY, United States Christopher R Choat, OD, FAAO Dallas, TX, United States
- Marlena A Chu, OD, FAAO University of Califonia – Berkeley Melissa W Chun, OD, FAAO Stein Eye Institute, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Dawn K DeCarlo, OD, MS, MSPH, PhD, FAAO University of Alabama at Birmingham Hendrik Peter Derksen, FAAO, Diplomate Low Vision ELVEA Low Vision BV Arnhem, Netherlands Kia B Eldred McGee, OD, Diplomate, FAAO Michael E. DeBakey VAMC Pearland, TX, United States
- Roanne E Flom, OD, FAAO The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA
- Greg R. Hopkins II, OD, MS, FAAO The Ohio State University Columbus, OH, USA
- Bhavani R Iyer, OD, FAAO Univ of Texas, Pearland, TX, United States
- Rebecca L Kammer, OD, PhD, FAAO UC Irvine, Anaheim, CA, United States
- Mark D Kirstein, OD, FAAO Ophthalmic Consultants of Boston Needham, MA, USA
- Elli J Kollbaum, OD, FAAO Bloomington, IN, United States
- David C Lewerenz, OD, FAAO University of Colorado, School of Medicine
- Rebecca Marinoff, OD, FAAO SUNY College of Optometry New York, NY, USA
- Tracy Matchinski, OD, FAAO Illinois College of Optometry Chicago, IL, United States
- Bennett McAllister, OD, FAAO Western University of Health Sciences Pomona, CA, United States
- Swati C Modi, OD, FAAO University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
- William F O’Connell, OD, FAAO Hudson Valley VA HCS, Hudson Valley NY, USA Private Practice Scarsdale, NY, USA
- Ana M Perez, OD, FAAO Houston, TX, United States
- Joshua L Robinson, OD, FAAO Vanderbilt Eye Institute Nashville, TN, United States
- Nicole C Ross, OD, MSc, FAAO New England College of Optometry, Boston, MA, USA
- John Rundquist, OD, FAAO Western New York Center for the Visually Impaired Buffalo, NY, United States Bruce Rodenthal O.D., F.A.A.O., Lighthouse Guild, NYC, NY
- Stephanie Schmiedecke-Barbieri, OD, FAAO, Dipl Low Vision UIW Rosenberg School of Optometry, San Antonio, TX, United States
- Karen Squier, OD, MS, FAAO Southern College of Optometry, Memphis, TN, USA
- Matt S Valdes, OD, FAAO San Antonio, TX, United States
- Richard H VanBuskirk, OD, FAAO Jackson, CA, United States
- Stanley Woo, OD, MS, MBA, FAAO University of Waterloo School of Optometry and Vision Sci, Waterloo, Ontario CA.