Orthoptist Cathie Jane and occupational therapist Genevieve Dalling have re-joined the service, working together to provide better care across the south-west.

Ms Jane specialises in eye disorders and works alongside Ms Dalling to provide individualised services to the vision impaired.

The role encompasses rehabilitation work, while also helping people make the most of their limited sight.

“So if someone’s got macular degeneration we can teach them to make the most of their peripheral vision to do daily tasks,” Ms Jane said.

“You can get to the point with glasses where you can’t go any further and that’s where we can come in with a range of different hand-held magnifiers, portable magnifiers and even CCTV screens.

“We speak to the person, find out what the problems are and what they would like to achieve.”

The pair regularly hit the road to help those who are unable to come into Warrnambool and cover a wide area of the south-west.

“We travel as far as Camperdown and out to Portland, then up to Casterton,” Ms Dalling said. “My role is just to look at how our clients manage their day-to-day tasks and how to best maximise their low vision to allow them to continue to do it independently.”

Outside of home visits, the pair also offer sessions at Vision Australia’s Koroit Street base.

“Clients can also have access to a orientation and mobility specialist and an adaptive technology consultant, so if anyone with low vision is having trouble using their computers or wanting some advice, we’ve got access to that as well,” Ms Dalling said.