Dry Eyes a Disability?

[eyedrops]

Hello all,

I recently posted a question about what people do with their dry eyes during job interviews...In thinking about this I've thought of another, more comprehensive question: Does anyone know if having dry eyes (or eye disease) is considered an OFFICIAL disability (as in, recognized by the government)? If so/not, in which countries?

And if this is not the case, how do we change this?

~marcey.

[LasikRelatedDES]

My mom works for Social Security and I asked her about it being a disability. She pretty much said no way. Not that she is the definitive opinion on the question.

[Aaron77]

http://www.dryeyezone.com/talk/showthread.php?t=7590

some discussion on this subject in this thread. I'd say that it could be considered a disability if severe eye pain and vision problems are seriously limiting what you are capable of doing.

[Royal Eyeness]

If you have ANY physical or psychological condition and that condition prevents you from being able to perform your job, or in certain cases, to perform ANY job, then you are disabled. You will just need to have your doctor validate, in writing, that this is the case and how this condition prevents you from being able to work. Some companies will require that you meet with THEIR doctors to confirm that you are, indeed, disabled.

[SallyP]

Well, if my eyes were as bad as they are of an evening, there is no way I could work, or get to work. That is my biggest fear actually. At the moment they get bad, I think, when I start to get tired, anywhere between 7 and 9pm, and sometimes I cannot keep them open and cannot bear the light, and just have to sleep to ease it, so if it ever gets earlier in the day, I genuinely wouldn't be able to work, or in fact, carry out normal daily activities, which really worries me. considering some of the things you get Disability payments for (maybe different in other countries), I would hope it would be looked at sympathetically!

[beachblanketbingo]

Dry eye disability

There is no doubt - especially if you have sjogrens - many people cannot read or watch tv for more than a few minutes....

The difficulty would be finding a doctor to write that note

[kimby2007]

Dry eye disability

Unfortunately getting a doctor to write that note is hard. I asked my eye doctor about disability and he looked at me like I was nuts and I do have Sjogrens with extreme difficulty reading.

[eyedrops]

Doctor's NOte

Unfortunately getting a doctor to write that note is hard. I asked my eye doctor about disability and he looked at me like I was nuts.

Perhaps one would need to get a specialist to write the note, someone who would be more knowledgeable and sympathetic to our condition (rather than just your neighborhood ophthalmologist). If they see patients but are also actively performing research, etc. then maybe they would be more likely? I wonder if they'd consider doing this at Boston Foundation for Sight. Or maybe even someone like Dr. Scheffer Tseng in Miami. I've never asked him about it, but he is definitely a specialist and I feel would be likely to help out in this way. If anyone is seeing him in the near future please ask him, and let us know!

~marcey.

[Aaron77]

You can be dissabled and continue to work. If you are in a wheelchair I figure you'd be labeled as dissabled but would still be considered as somebody who could work, the employer would have to ensure that the workplace was wheel chair accessible. Now if you have dry eyes and have severe difficulty in reading I'm sure there''s ways around that to, there are machines that scan and read back material for example. An employe could also provide you with a humidifier in your office or make other dry eye related changes to the work place to suit your needs. You would probably need a doctors note to get any action however. Now getting a doctor to say you are completely unable to work may be a little more difficult.

If you are claiming that dry eyes are causing severe problems for you at work, you may want to get a doctors note proving that you actually have been diagnosed and they certain changes to the work environment may be needed.

[irish eyes]

I'm only able to work part time - and I have had to change career to be able to do this.

The UK Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) in general considers someone to be disabled if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

The decision to disclose my condition came about after previously having two rather traumatic interviews in very hot rooms with no ventilation. On one of these occasions, I had to give a presentation using OHP (acetates) and of course the room was in semi-darkness. I dropped my notes and tried to continue with the rest of the interview with burning eyes that could barely open. How could I concentrate on what was being asked? Both interviews were unsuccessful. Both sets of interview panellists appeared puzzled and I can understand why. How were they to know?

Next job interview: I approached the HR dept to see what the interview room was like. I explained my `needs' and they were very accommodating. This wasn't a case of more favourable treatment; it was creating a more level playing field (sorry about the cliché).

I got the job and thus had to provide a medical certificate to explain a bit of background to my condition. The hardest thing I find now with my employer's HR dept is the assumptions they make about my eyes. It's something that they haven't dealt with before and make lots of noise about getting `professional advice' from consultants when in fact - I'm the expert on my needs - not them. My GP backs me up on that.

[Z351]

QoL study

"Although usually considered minor, these disorders can induce pain, pruritus, ocular burning, photophobia or watering, responsible for a significant burden on patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) ."

This is just an extract of Pr. Baudouin and al last year's QoL study:
'
Severe impairment of health-related quality of life in patients suffering from ocular surface diseases.

To Keratos knowledge no country has recognised this as a disability but that does not prove them right.
http://www.em-consulte.com/article/162320

Skip the Summary French part if you just read English - English bellow.

We have received Baudouin permission to use as a mean to favour the recognition of the disease in France and for our new fight which is telework (work from home or distance in order to facilitate disabled OSD, dry eye or allergy sufferers to work in a more friendly or adapted environnement (from home or elsewhere; humidifier etc).

Anyway, you could show your docs this when requesting to be recognised as a disabled person.

[Royal Eyeness]

In the U.S., what is considered to be disabling enough to warrant being out on disability leave is judged on a case to case basis by your insurance company. A particular condition doesn't have to be on a list of official "disabilities". This is also the case with Social Security.
If your condition is disabling to you, then file a claim. What will make all the difference is having a doctor who will be willing to continually update the insurance company with responses to their requests for patient status, full description of the condition and why it's disabling, copies of results of any tests the doctor has performed, how long the doctor anticipates that the patient will not be able to work, etc. The doctor can't simply write one letter and that's it. The insurance company will ask him/her for updates on a regular basis (usually every few months), so you have to have an accomodating doctor.

[irish eyes]

Quality of Life Study

Z351

All I can say is Wow! I was particularly interested in the Emotional well-being dimension

I wonder how the questions were thought up - and how long the respondents had been suffering with Dry Eye.

My world has certainly become `smaller' as a result of this condition and I probably would give different responses now to those I might have made several years ago.

[Z351]

the other interesting section

the other interesting section related to the subject of this thread is acknowledgement of the disease:

"The feeling that their clinical condition is not acknowledged by the others may explain, at least in part, their depressive state at one point."

"Acknowledgement of the disease condition” dimension

Very few patients (11.6%) thought their eye condition was “not or very little” acknowledged by other people; more patients (50.5%) thought it was acknowledged by clinicians.
“Acceptance of the disease” dimension

With regard to friends and family, the majority of patients (61.8%) declared that “avoiding speaking about your eye problem” was “not or very little” impacted by their eye problems.

I think tells us a lot re the challenge we're facing towards disability recognition.

[irish eyes]

Z351

I do so agree.

I try to avoid talking about it to anyone who `isn't in the know' because if I do, I suddenly meet up with an `expert'.

And if I ever mention Conjunctivochalasis, I can always count on someone to finish the word off for me by assuming I mean Conjunctivitis and perhaps I can't pronounce the word.

More seriously though, I could identify with the sentiments in this statement:

"The feeling that their clinical condition is not acknowledged by the others may explain, at least in part, their depressive state at one point."