Question
what is low vision?

Let me describe MY VISION WITH GLASSES:

On the eye chart i am able to read only the first line clearly (the largest letter).The second line is somewhat clear .

My vision is 6/60 in both eyes ,highly myopic.

Without eyeglasses i'm totally helpless(everything is totally blurred).

For reading i've to bring the book very close to the eyes(and remove my glasses).

while watching tv, i cannot read whats written below (subtitles ) unless i go very very close to the tv.same with the computer (need to increase the fonts often to maximum)

cannot recognize faces beyond a few metres.

are all these symptoms of low vision?

also is a person with low vision legally blind?  

Answer
Ross,

The dictionary's def of low vision is...impaired vision in which there is a significant reduction in visual function that cannot be corrected by conventional glasses but which may be improved with special aids or devices

From what you describe, you see much like I do. I can only make out the first two lines of the chart (though there are many different charts and it all depends on lighting). The glasses you wear correct you for distance, that is why you cannot wear them to read.

Have you tried getting reading glasses? That is what I use. The lenses in my eyes, that were placed in after my two cataract surgeries, are fixed for distance. It is as if I am wearing glasses, for distance, all the time. To read, I wear reading glasses. You could get bifocals, so you do not have to keep switching your glasses.

I am 20/200, in my good eye, and 20/600 in the other. I cannot make out a thing, except light and shapes, in the bad eye (that is due to all the recent retina detachments I have experienced). What this means, is that what normally sighted people can see from 200 feet away...I have to be 20 feet away from to see. And 20/200, or higher, is considered legally blind.

You are considered legally blind.

You should be entitled to special aids and devices. Have you asked your eye doctor any of these questions? From your wording, I am guessing you are not in the States...and I am not sure what is offered, as far as vision health care, outside of this country. It's worth looking into, though, because here I can get books in large print or books on tape. I can also receive training that helps me to learn to get around, indoors and out, smoothly and safely. Anything and everything that you can find to help you is a blessing. Try doing a google search for low vision...low vision aids...low vision devices...maybe even some low vision support groups. I hope this helps answer some of your questions.

God bless,
Jeannine