R. Chmielowski .

De Blauwe Kamer Theofaan Groep, rehabilitation centre for the blind and visual impaired, Low Vision department, Leuvenaarstraat 93, NL 4811 VJ Breda,

The Netherlands.

If a Low Vision professional concludes that, based on a Low Vision examination, a telescope presumable will be adequate for the patient, there are still other questions to be answered such as: What are the expectations of the patient? What is the usage of the telescope outside the Low Vision center, especially at home or work?

Even well fitted telescopes are sometimes less frequently used at home or even discarded after some time. Taken into account the high costs of constructing telescopes, this seems a waste of valuable time and money. To tackle this problem our Low Vision center lends the telescope to the patient to test it at home for a period of a few weeks.

For that purpose, we developed a new system ( the DEC-system) for mounting telescopes temporarily in a spectacle frame. The DEC-system allows accurate fitting of a telescope to the precise pupil position and precise eye to telescope distance.

The DEC-system with telescope is taken home by the patient for a trial period.

If the result of the trial period is satisfactory, a telescope in a fixed frame can be made for the patient and the DEC-system can be readjusted for the next patient.

The results show that trying a telescope at home for two weeks, already gives a good indication of whether the telescope will actually being used. We will present the experiences with this new system.

The DEC-system ought to be available in every low vision practice. The DEC-system makes testing of telescopes at home possible. Therefore prescription and purchase of the telescope will be done with more confidence of both prescriber and patient in the usefulness of the device. As the results have shown the DEC-system is always successful in that respect.