Page 28 - Autumn 2012

Page 28:Layout 1 14/10/2012 14:52 Page 1

HOW BLIND IS
28 HOW BLIND IS
REGISTERED BLIND?
REGISTERED BLIND?

This subject raised its head after a registered
blind bowler who had some vision was appar-
ently refused permission to visit the head be-
cause his playing partner had practically no
vision whatsoever and could not pass on any real
information about the state of the head.
Apologies but the following is a “full” expla-
nation. I tried to cut it down but in the end de-
cided to publish the article in full. I think it is
Searching for the edge important that everyone appreciates what Reg-
Searching for the edge
istered Blind actually means.
The photo above shows a blind bowler searching for the edge of the delivery mat and
working out his angle of delivery. Sometimes a blind bowler may even have a drawing pin put
into the front middle of the delivery mat and could even possibly have a notch cut into it.
The photo was taken by me while I was the mat sponsor and head Umpire for the sadly
now defunct Disabled Championships. The championships covered many disabilities from phys-
ical ones to learning difficulties but the British Sports Association for the disabled (BSAD now
Disability Sport England), could in the end only get funding for elite sports and this did not include
bowls.
The following is an information article extracted from the Royal National Institute for Blind
People and explains the vision criteria for registering for the RNIB. It also makes it clear that
being “Registered Blind” does not mean you’re are totally without sight. It is a common miscon-
ception that people believe that being registered blind that you have no sight whatsoever. I hope
you will read and understand the complexity and complications of varying sight problems.
•VISUAL ACUITY: your central vision, the vision
you use to see detail. SNELLEN SCALE / CHART
•VISUAL FIELD: how much you can see around the
edge of your vision, while looking straight ahead.
(Ed - most of us would probably call this peripheral
vision)
Your visual acuity is measured by reading down
an eye chart while wearing any glasses or contact
lenses that you may need. This is known as a Snellen
test. Your field of vision is measured by a 'field of vision
test'.
Measuring your visual acuity and visual field helps
the ophthalmologist to decide whether you are eligible
to be registered as severely sight impaired (blind) or
sight impaired (partially sighted).
Snellen scale Visual acuity is measured using the
Snellen scale. A Snellen test usually consists of a num-
ber of rows of letters which get smaller as you read
down the chart. On the Snellen scale, normal visual
acuity is called 6 / 6, which corresponds to the bottom
or second bottom line of the chart.
If you can only read the top line of the chart then
this would be written as 6 / 60. This means you can see
at 6 metres what someone with standard vision could
see from 60 metres away.