1. Lean on People in Your Life and Your Community for Assistance
Instead of driving, utilize public transportation. If this is too difficult or inconvenient, make sure to drive during the daytime and only during good weather and easy traffic conditions. Use vans, shared rides and volunteer shuttles to get around your community. Finally, make sure that the key people in your life understand the nature of macular degeneration; they can provide prosthetics and help with critical tasks around the home.
2. Avoid Social Isolation
Since macular degeneration makes it very difficult for patients to see the expressions on other people's faces, the disorder often creates feelings of isolation and depression. If you have a difficult time discerning faces, let your friends and acquaintances know about this issue, and gently ask them to remind you. Use the Web to find online support groups for macular degeneration like MD Support. This can both give you social support and introduce you to good tips for how to interact with society despite your vision problems.
3. Employ Prosthetic Devices, Magnifiers and Other Appliances to Make Life Easier at Home
Although people with macular degeneration generally maintain their peripheral vision, they often can't see what's literally right in front of their eyes. Get rid of objects, rugs, toys and knickknacks that can cause you to fall. To counteract your inability to focus on objects near your central field of view, buy books and magazines with extra-large print, set your font display on your computer at a very large size, get clocks and phones with big numbers and keep magnifying glasses around the house to help you discern smaller objects. Finally, invest in excellent prescription glasses to maximize the vision you retain. Your physician can also recommend professional services and conveniences to help you adapt to life with your condition.
