CARSON CITY, NV – The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) Bureau of Services to the Blind and Visually Impaired is opening its first low vision clinic in northern Nevada. The quarterly clinic will be held over a three-day period and can see up to 20 clients during each period. The next low vision clinic is scheduled for November 20, 21 and 22. Patients need to be a VR Nevada client and should contact their rehabilitation counselor to be referred for a low vision assessment.
The clinic is operated under the supervision of a fully licensed optometrist who has special training in low vision. The optometrist oversees one or two interns and as a team, they conduct interviews to gather pertinent visual, medical, and functional information of individuals with low vision to identify their history of vision loss, background information and the individual’s needs and goals to determine how their low vision is affecting activities in the workplace and activities of daily living.
The optometrist will provide a written report with their findings and recommendations for low vision aids and devices or adaptive training that will help the individual maximize their visual potential. This report will be provided to the referring rehabilitation counselor.
The Nevada Bureau of Services to the Blind and the Southern California College of Optometry (now part of Marshall B. Ketchum University) established a low vison clinic in Las Vegas in 1975. This collaboration has continued uninterrupted until the present day. Over the past 49 years, approximately 9,000 clients have been served and 1,300 student interns have had the opportunity to provide low vision patient care in this unique setting to those who are blind or visually impaired.
“This is a great opportunity for patients, who can get the care they need, and graduates, who gain valuable training. We look forward to continued years of this wonderful collaboration with the State of Nevada and are excited about the expansion to northern Nevada in Reno.” Said Mechelle Merrill, VR Nevada Deputy Administrator of Programs.
Visit https://vrnevada.nv.gov/applications/ to become a client. Those who wish to learn more about this effort should email Richele Pennock, with the Nevada Bureau of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired at r-pennock@detr.nv.gov.
