A visually impaired elderly man uses his white cane to follow the tire path on the street due to ice covered sidewalks in Montreal on Dec. 7, 2019. Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette

The Low Vision Self-Help Association has been helping people with vision loss for over 30 years. It helps with practical things, like how to obtain software to help navigate a computer or to audio dictate emails. And it helps connect people with others who are dealing with vision loss and the emotional and practical challenges that come with it.

Association president John Ohberg lost his sight gradually. After being diagnosed with glaucoma, he continued to work as an engineer for decades.

One day I was getting ready to go on a road trip with a group of fellow engineers, Ohberg said. One fellow tossed me the keys and I missed. He joked about it, saying Im glad youre not on my baseball team. I hadnt told anyone about my vision problems.

Ohberg retired in 2008 and four months later, due to his vision loss, his drivers license was suspended. Then his wife Clora Delany was diagnosed with cancer and he became her full-time caregiver. Two weeks after his wife passed away, he connected with the Montreal Association for the Blind (MAB) and was given some practical tools to facilitate navigating daily life and staying connecting with the world. It was the MAB which suggested Ohberg contact the Low Vision Self-Help Association in the West Island.

The association gathers monthly at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Beaconsfield, to socialize, to learn about the latest in low-vision news or perhaps the latest ways to make practical adaptations to the home.

Im partially sighted, but I continue to live on my own and use public transit, Ohberg said. The Low Vision Self-Help Association provided me with community of people who also had vision loss, to varying degrees. It keeps you from becoming isolated.

Irene Lambert is a founding member of the low-vision association, which she described as a link between diagnosis and rehabilitation. She was diagnosed with degenerative vision as a child. Her vision loss was gradual and now she is completely blind.

You are told to learn to live with (vision loss), but not how to live with it, Lambert said. We say you have lost your sight not your vision. That, along with other familiar words of wisdom such as knowledge is power, change happens and live and learn help keep the groups 50 members upbeat and moving forward.

The Low Vision Self-Help Association was established by Pointe-Claire resident Ruth Williams after she was diagnosed as legally blind. Her idea was to bring in guest speakers who could lend their expertise as well as technology experts who could help people become comfortable with the latest in electronic aids. The association also organizes an annual trip planned with the low-vision community in mind such as a visit to a museum where guided tours and audio descriptions are available.

For more information about the Low Vision Self-Help Association, visit http://www.lowvisionselfhelpassociation.com.

kgreenaway@postmedia.com

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Low Vision Self-Help Association offers information and community - Montreal Gazette