Low Vision Specialists

Out of network benefits for patients…

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Why would someone choose to pay out of pocket for medical care when they already have health insurance? 🩺💭 It's a question worth asking! While insurance coverage is an important consideration, there are other factors that may influence how patients choose their healthcare providers. Let's talk about why some patients make this decision. 💙 #HealthcareChoices #OutOfNetworkCare #PatientEducation #HealthInsurance #ScottieENT

I test drove a Tesla model Y yesterday with the self driving feature… it was awesome! I have to highly recommend it… it allows people (mostly men) the ability to keep their independence (driving) and be safe and efficient as well! Go to Tesla.com and book a test drive. In Springfield, the demo is at the Doubletree Hotel on North Glenstone! You can drive it for two hours for FREE!

Electric Cars, Solar & Clean Energy | Tesla Tesla is building a world of amazing abundance with SI, electric cars, solar, home batteries and integrated renewable energy solutions for homes and businesses.

Blindness Awareness Month | The Side You Don’t Always See. 🖤

I think one of the hardest parts of going blind is realizing you’ve already seen something for the very last time… and you didn’t even know it.

This is going to be a different kind of post for me.

I’m not going to tell you how strong I am, find the positive in every negative, or remind myself that things could always be worse.

Because sometimes, I just need to admit that this s**t is hard! 😞

For years, I’ve had what we call “bad eye days.” Days when everything seemed foggier, blurrier, and harder to make out. Eventually, things would settle back into what I considered my “normal” vision.

Except lately, I’ve started realizing that I’m not having bad eye days anymore that are going to “get better”. This is just how I see now.

The fog isn’t lifting. The blurriness isn’t clearing. The things I used to be able to make out aren’t coming back into focus. And I’m having a really hard time accepting that.

I don’t know how to explain what it feels like to keep losing pieces of a world you once knew.

It’s loving the holidays but no longer seeing the decorations in people’s yards or even inside my own home. It’s knowing someone is standing in front of me but not being able to see their face, their expressions, or their smile.

It’s scrolling through years of photographs on my phone, memories of people, places, and moments that meant everything to me. Some of those photographs are of people I’ve loved and lost. And now I can stare at those pictures, knowing how precious they are, but unable to actually see them. 💔

Imagine having a lifetime of memories saved in photographs, only to realize you can no longer see the memories you’re trying so desperately to hold onto.

It’s being surrounded by people, movement, colors, and life, and feeling this strange visual emptiness where all of that used to be.

And it’s incredibly lonely sometimes.

I’ve always dreamed of seeing the world. I have places on my bucket list that I’ve imagined standing in front of, taking in the views, and experiencing things I’ve only ever dreamed about.

But now I have to face the reality that I may visit those places and never actually see what I once imagined seeing.

Walking through New York City or New Orleans. Standing on a beach along the Mississippi Gulf Coast or a beach in Fiji. I know those places are completely different, with different sounds, smells, and experiences.

But visually? So much of that difference is disappearing for me.

I’m grieving things I haven’t even experienced yet. And maybe one of the cruelest parts of progressive vision loss is that you don’t always know when you’re seeing something for the last time.

Sometimes you just wake up and realize another piece is gone. And you have to keep living your life while quietly trying to process that loss. Over and over again.

People mean well when they tell you to stay positive, be grateful, or remember that things could be worse.

And I am grateful. I have so much in my life that I love.

But gratitude doesn’t erase grief. And someone else’s suffering doesn’t make mine disappear.

I can laugh, make jokes about being blind, advocate for others, build a community, and encourage people to keep going. And I can still be absolutely heartbroken about my own reality.

Those two versions of me can exist at the same time.

Accepting that I’m blind doesn’t mean I’ve stopped grieving my vision. And learning to live with one level of vision loss doesn’t prepare you for the next.

I’m tired of constantly having to readjust to a world that keeps disappearing. I’m tired of finding a positive way to explain something that sometimes just plain sucks. And I’m tired of feeling like I need to turn every painful experience into a lesson about strength.

Sometimes I don’t want to be strong.

Sometimes I just want to be heard.

And that’s why I’m sharing this.

Not for pity. Not because I’ve given up. And certainly not because I want anyone to feel sorry for me.

This is education, too.

Blindness Awareness Month shouldn’t only be about celebrating independence, resilience, and all the amazing things people with vision loss can accomplish.

It should also make room for the grief. The frustration. The isolation. The fear. The anger. The exhaustion of constantly adapting to something you never asked for.

I’m still me. I’m still going to advocate, laugh, and show up for my community. But today, I’m not going to wrap my pain in a pretty little bow just to make it easier to read.

Today, I’m letting myself be the messy, overwhelmed, grieving version of me. The version who doesn’t have all the answers. The version who’s still trying to figure out how to experience a world she can no longer see the way she remembers it.

Because I can be strong and still be struggling.

And right now, I am.

That’s not defeat.

That’s my reality.

And that deserves to be part of the conversation, too. 🖤

What do we do differently than all the other eye doctors in town??? We help people
Functionally. We help maximize the vision that the patient has left and try to improve their quality of life. We CARE! We strive to hear their concerns and address their issues. No pat on the head and say “it sucks to be you!” We DO things! Enhancing Vision ~ Inspiring Hope! Every DAY! My team is the best! Call us 417-598-0168. We want to give you resources to make your day!

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What the Physician Fee Schedule Is and Why Clinics Are Closing 📚 Looking for practical guides to help you navigate Medicare, insurance, and healthcare? https://stan.store/SliceofLifeMD ✉️ Want more healthcare education and behind-the-scenes insight from a physician? Join my free weekly newsletter: https://sliceoflifemd.substack.com/subscribe

Please spread the word for us… we are here and want to help visually impaired individuals… we can help even when others say there’s nothing else that can be done! We enhance vision ~ inspire hope! Tell everyone you know. Thanks

Such BS and so true! It was awful.

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@carefirstbcbs 👎🏼

Glossary of Vision Terms
The terms and definitions found in this glossary relate to vision and vision loss. Please note that this glossary is not comprehensive.

20/20 vision – A measurement of visual acuity (or clearness of sight) that most eye care professionals consider as the mean. The level of acuity is routinely measured by requiring an individual to identify various sizes of black symbols on a white background at a distance – an eye chart. The first numeral 20 defines the distance in feet from the individual. The second numeral 20 defines the distance from which a person can distinguish characters on an eye chart that is 20 feet away. Most people can identify characters on an eye chart at 20 feet. A person with 20/200 eyesight can see at 20 feet what a person with normal sight (20/20) can see when standing 200 feet away.

AMD – AMD is an acronym for Age-related Macular Degeneration, characterized by a worsening loss of central vision as a result of deterioration of the macula, which contains retinal cones that are required for sight. Learn more about AMD / Macular Degeneration

Amsler Grid – A black-lined grid on a white background, used for testing central sight field distortion and impairments that signal macular degeneration and other vision loss issues. See a graphic representation of an Amsler Grid.

Aqueous Humor – the clear fluid contained between the iris and cornea that provides necessary nutrients to the lens and cornea. When this fluid cannot drain, it creates unrelieved pressure that can result in Glaucoma and vision loss. Learn more about Glaucoma.

Astigmatism – An eye disorder caused by uneven curvature of the eyeball that motivates light rays to bend, targeting more than one point of the retina, instead of a single spot. This causes blurry vision, vague shadows on characters when reading, and slight double vision.

Blepharospasm – A condition that causes involuntary blinking to an excessive measure that the affected individual cannot see. Blepharospasm is considered as a form of functional blindness.

Braille – A tactile reading and writing system invented by Louis Braille in the 1820s and widely used by the blind and deaf-blind. Braille is made up of a system of raised dots that are felt with the fingertips. Braille makes reading, writing, note taking, and communicating possible for blind and deaf-blind users.

Braille display – A tactile device consisting of a row of rectangular cells, each of which contains a series of moveable pins. The pins are controlled electronically to move up or down to form Braille characters. The characters depict the information that appears on the text source, typically via a computer or notetaker device.

Cataracts – Commonly caused by aging in conjunction with diabetes, excessive exposure to UV rays, and sometimes caused by smoking and excessive steroid use, cataracts result in clouding or yellowing of the eye lens and, thus, blurred vision; halos around objects ( in particular, lights); glare; and diminished perception of color saturation. Learn more about Cataracts.

CCTV / Closed-circuit television – an older term for a video camera system that broadcasts a signal to a specific monitor (as opposed to a public broadcast source). The more common term for use for people with low vision is video magnifier.

CMV Retinitis – A visual impairment characterized by spots before the eyes (floaters), blurred and/or distorted vision, commonly experienced by persons with immune deficiencies.

Contrast sensitivity – A property that regulates the level at which the eye can detect differences in contrast between an object or character and its background – for instance, the contrast between a black letter on a white page.

Corneal Dystrophy – Classified under several categories, corneal dystrophy is a medical syndrome that results in loss of transparency of the cornea. Individuals who have this condition experience differing levels of blurred vision, light sensitivity, and vision loss.

Diabetic Retinopathy – The leading cause of vision loss in persons who are diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetic retinopathy is brought on by leakage of the retinal blood vessels and can develop into progressive blurred vision, double vision, floaters, visual distortion and, ultimately, some degree of blindness. Learn more about Diabetic Retinopathy.

Glaucoma – A sight impairment caused by unrelieved pressure inside the eye as a result of fluid build-up. Permanent impairment can range from loss of peripheral vision to severe vision loss. Individuals with glaucoma may experience increased frequency of headaches, blurred vision, halos around lights, difficulty seeing in the dark, and sometimes, a non-reactive pupil, pain, or even a swollen eye. Learn more about Glaucoma.

Grave’s Disease – An autoimmune disorder present in cases of thyroid abnormality. Grave’s Disease can affect vision, including eye discomfort, double vision, and degrees of vision loss.

Hyperopia / Hyperopic / Farsighted – A person is considered “farsighted,” when items at a distance are in focus, but close object are blurry. The medical term for farsightedness is hyperopia.

Keratoconus – An eye disorder that leads to degeneration of vision and various degrees of vision loss, ranging from blurred, doubled or distorted vision to severe vision loss that cannot be improved by glasses or other common optical aids. Keratoconus results from a severe form of astigmatism in which the cornea thins and reforms into a cone-shaped bulge.

Legally blind – Having 20/200 vision in the best eye with correction or a visual field of 20 degrees or less.

Low vision – A significant reduction of visual acuity that ordinary eyeglasses, contact lenses, and/or medical treatment cannot completely correct.

Macula – The small area in the retina that contains special cells that are especially sensitive to light. The macula enables people to see fine details clearly.

Macular Degeneration – See AMD.

Metamorphopsia – Distorted vision caused by impairments of the eye’s macula and/or retina. Objects may look nearer or farther than they really are, and lines may appear wavy or bent.

Multiple-view magnification camera – A portable, rotating closed-circuit camera that provides magnified views of objects from varying distances — from close-up self view magnification, to document views for reading, to the magnification of objects from across large rooms or auditoriums.

Myopia / Myopic / Nearsighted – A person is considered “nearsighted” or myopic when close up items are in focus, but more distant objects are blurry, by degree.

Notetaker – A portable electronic Braille device that enables blind users to take notes, create documents, and access applications. These devices usually provide either speech or Braille output or both.

OCR / Optical Character Recognition – Electronic conversion of images or printed text into machine-editable and readable text after capture by scanning, where it can be readable using speech, large print, or Braille.

Ocular Albinism – A condition in which lack of pigmentation in the eye results in light sensitivity, blurry vision, and varying degrees of vision loss.

Presbyopia – An eye disorder of middle age, usually first evidenced by some minor loss of vision – blurred letters while reading at a normal close-up distance. Clear vision degenerates over time into more significant loss of near sight, as the individual continues to age. It is usually caused by the natural loss of the elasticity of the eye.

Retinal detachment – A critical eye condition in which the retina – the part of the eye that receives light and translates it into signals that allow the brain to form images – separates from the underlying tissue. Some people may experience floaters, shadows over vision, very blurred vision, and/or unexplained flashes of light. Without immediate treatment, permanent damage may occur, including significant vision loss to blindness. Retinal detachment is most commonly found in persons who are aged, have severe myopia, have had cataract surgery, or have been diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy.

Retinitis Pigmentosa – a progressive visual impairment with various end-results, ranging from some significant vision loss to total blindness. Symptoms include night blindness and loss of peripheral vision. Retinitis pigmentosa is one of the most common forms of inherited retinal degeneration. Learn more about Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Scanning and reading – A means to convert text to speech or large print output text OCR software.

Screen magnification software – Software that interfaces with a computer’s graphical output to present enlarged images of monitor content.

Screen reader / Screen reading software – Software, such as JAWS, that interprets computer screen content and reads it aloud via synchronized speech.

Speech synthesizer – Software that works with a computer’s sound card to produce speech.

Video magnifier – A means of enlarging the appearance of text and images via a closed-circuit video camera system, by projecting magnified views from the camera’s field of focus to a computer monitor. See CCTV.

ATTENTION: Low Vision Specialists office will be closed the week of July 20th for professional development. If you have an eye emergency, please contact (417) 886-3937 for help.

If you call, text or email us, we will respond as quickly as possible.

We will reopen Monday, July 27, 2026 at 9 am.

Enhancing Vision ~ Inspiring Hope!