The Independent Living Older Individuals Who Are Blind Technical Assistance Center Says Millions of Americans with Vision Loss Don’t Know There’s Help

Mississippi State, MS, May 21, 2021 --(PR.com)-- More than 3 million Americans 55 and older have difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses and only 5% of the individuals with vision loss who are eligible for services actually seek them. That’s why the Independent Living Older Individuals Who Are Blind Technical Assistance Center (IL OIB-TAC), a part of the National Research & Training Center on Blindness and Low Vision (NRTC) at Mississippi State University, as funded by two grants from the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) under the U.S. Department of Education, created a new initiative called Time To Be Bold.

Time To Be Bold (timetobebold.org) is a national public service awareness campaign designed to educate, engage and empower people in this demographic to utilize the free and low-cost services in their states that will give them the tools, technology, training, and support they need to live their bold, best lives.

“There are literally millions of people who are struggling with vision loss and do not know what to do or where to go to get help,” says Sylvia Stinson-Perez, Director of the IL OIB-TAC, who adds: “So many people who have low vision don’t know that they can learn adaptive ways to do everyday tasks with a visual impairment. There are techniques, devices and technology that can help you regain or maintain independence.”

The Time To Be Bold campaign of radio, television, and digital PSAs promotes the campaign’s website, timetobebold.org. The website is easy-to-navigate, low-vision friendly and links to a helpful database of state-by-state resources.

Says Stinson-Perez, “As a blind person, I can tell you that the diagnosis of a visual condition like Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy, or Retinitis Pigmentosa do not have to mean the loss of independence, work, and life enjoyment. When you take the action to be bold you take your life, your confidence, and your independence back in your own hands. You show yourself and those in your life that you can meet the challenge.”

For more information, please go to timetobebold.org now.