The first Canadian interdisciplinary weekend vision rehabilitation conference was held at the School of Optometry and Vision Science in March 2017. By all accounts it was very successful and truly did live up to the name of being interdisciplinary. There were a total of 149 registrants including attendees who identified themselves as optometrists, ophthalmologists, opticians, orientation and mobility instructors, occupational therapists, independent living specialists (from CNIB), high tech assessors, itinerant vision resources teachers/special education consultants, CNIB national and provincial managers, counsellors, students, and University faculty members/researchers. Attendees came from almost every province across Canada and even internationally, including optometrists from the US and Hong Kong.
The wide range of presentations formats was appreciated and ranged from lectures, workshops, collaborative workshops and grand rounds.
Thanks to generous sponsorship from Chadwick Optical, Optelec Canada Inc. and Brook and Braddock Opticians, we were able to present nine Conference Awards to students and residents to enable them to attend the conference. The first Canadian Low Vision Achievement Award was awarded to Dr. Graham Strong with acknowledgment of his extensive advocacy work in the 1980’s to obtain coverage of visual aids for people with low vision of all ages through the Assistive Devices Program. This helped change the landscape of low vision service provision in Ontario and continues to serve as a model across Canada.
The inaugural George Woo lecture was given by Dr. Joan Stelmack of the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary, where she is Director of the Low Vision Service. Dr. Woo has served (and led) numerous national and international optometry organisations. But closer to home, he was responsible for initiating our own Low Vision Clinic and was founding Director of the Centre for Sight Enhancement from its opening in 1985 to 1987. Dr. Stelmack spoke about the effectiveness of the Lovit studies, which demonstrate the effectiveness of a two tiered approach to low vision rehabilitation. The two keynote speakers were Dr Walter Wittach, School of Optometry, University of Montreal and Anne Riddering, Director of Rehabilitation Services for Henry Ford Health System’s Visual Rehabilitation and Research Center of Michigan. Dr Wittach spoke about dual sensory loss (hearing and vision), emphasising the unrecognised high prevalence of this condition, while Dr Riddering spoke of the importance of recognising the contribution of all the professions who provide vision rehabilitation, particularly with the projected increasing prevalence of visual impairment.
