Category Archives: sight loss

Minister backs learning disability eye health campaign

Care services minister Paul Burstow has backed a charity’s campaign to improve eye health services for people with learning disabilities.

by on May 11, 2012 in News

 

The Liberal Democrat MP gave his support to SeeAbility’s ‘eye 2 eye’ campaign on a recent visit to the Morden Eye Centre, where he saw teenager Roshni Kothari receiving an enhanced sight test for people with learning disabilities. This was Kothari’s first sight test in the community, having previously been treated at Sutton Eye Hospital.

Recent research commissioned by SeeAbility and Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) highlighted that there are 1 million adults with a learning disability in the UK. People with learning disabilities are 10 times more likely to have serious sight problems than other people, with 6 in 10 people needing glasses. People with severe or profound learning disabilities are most likely to have sight problems.