Facts About Vision Loss

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Vision problems affect one in five preschool age children (ages 3 to 5) and 25 percent of school-age children (ages 6 to 17). (view source #1, view source #2)
Over one million Americans aged 40 and over are currently blind, and an additional 2.4 million are visually impaired. These numbers are expected to double over the next 30 years as the baby boom generation ages. (view source)
Seventy percent of severely visually impaired persons are age 65 and older. Fifty percent of that group is legally blind. (view source)
Among adults who are 18 years and older, vision disability is among the top 10 disabilities. (view source)
For people age 65 and older, the rate of legal blindness is 135 per 1,000. (view source)
Legal blindness does not necessarily mean total blindness; 90 percent of people who are legally blind have some remaining vision. (view source)
Only approximately 2 percent to 8 percent of people who are visually impaired use a white cane. The rest rely on their usable vision, a guide dog, or a sighted guide. (view source #1, view source #2, view source #3)

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