Daniëlle has ADOA. Although her vision is, to put it mildly, not optimal; cooking and baking are her passionate hobbies. Ever since I was a child, there has been one thing I have loved to do, and that is cook and bake. I am glad that at a young age, I was allowed to help my mother and grandmother in the kitchen with chores such as shelling the beans. In the meantime, cooking and baking [...]

For people with a visual impairment, driving a car is not as straightforward as it is for most people. Being visually impaired does not always mean that obtaining a driving license is impossible, but people with visual impairments do need to be regularly examined. Rejected for the normal driver’s license? In the past, you would have been out of luck, but since 2009 there is a new regulation: driving with a bioptic telescope (BTS). Kirsten [...]

Interview with Ruth van Nispen. As of the 1st of June 2021, Ruth has been appointed professor of 'Visual Functioning & Health' at the Department of Ophthalmology of Amsterdam UMC. This new permanent academic position is associated with the Amsterdam Public Health research institute and the Free University of Amsterdam. The creation of this new position acknowledges the need for much needed attention on the impact that a visual impairment has on the overall health [...]

As a child I never felt different from other children. My mother was visually impaired, and around the age of six it became known that I was also visually impaired. In my younger years I went to special education for blind and visually impaired children. After school I played with the neighborhood children, like every normal child. I guess I had already taught myself tricks, so that I actually did not suffer from my disability [...]

Note: this article is about guidance in the Netherlands. Do you know agencies in your own country that provide similar care? Please let us know by emailing us at kim@adoa.eu and we will add it to this article! What does my student see and what doesn't he? Are there any adjustments needed in the classroom? Won't my classmates think my aids are weird? Won't my son be bullied more quickly because he is visually [...]

3 July 2021, René van Gerwen As a small child, I probably had 30-40 % vision; it is probably because my file disappeared thanks to arguments between eye doctors. Now, at 64, I can see 5-10 %; the deterioration is slow but steady. I have ''normal'' glasses. -4/-5 glasses. Within my family (incl. nieces/cousins, through father's/grandmother's line), the OPA1 gene defect has been diagnosed in at least 5 relatives. I have no ''plus symptoms'' [...]

Ralph is 48 years old and lives in Utrecht. He has three children, one of whom has already left home. Ralph works at Schiphol Airport as an air traffic controller and in his spare time he likes to sport and do DIY projects. He is only an ADOA carrier and experiences no symptoms himself. Our board member Maud interviewed him. What is your link with ADOA? My youngest son has ADOA, we found out [...]