Appointments and Inquries
Please Note:
To book an appointment, please contact Linda Vorsteveld DIRECTLY BY TELEPHONE.
Appointments by e-mail are not feasible.
Please contact the CSE clinic at:
(519) 888-4708
or Univerity of Waterloo extension 84708.
Centre for Sight Enhancement (Low Vision Services)
The Centre for Sight Enhancement (CSE) is a clinical, teaching
(undergraduate and graduate), and research unit within the School of Optometry
at the University of Waterloo. Established in 1984, the CSE is Canada's first
and only vision rehabilitation service to be accredited by the National Accrediation
Council for Agencies Serving the Blind and Visually Handicapped. It was first
accredited in 1989, and subsequently re-accredited in 1995. The Centre's mission
is to promote Canadian excellence in all facets of blindness and low vision
rehabilitation (with particular emphasis in the areas of clinical services and
device technology). Specific initiatives within the Centre include Low Vision
Services, the Sight Enhancement Equipment Pool and Assessment Centre (SEEPAC),
the Ontario Rehabilitation Technology Consortium (ORTC), the Head-Mounted Low
Vision Devices (HMLVD) Clinic, and the Sight Enhancement Engineering (WatSEE) projects.
Low Vision Clinic
Located within the School of Optometry's Optometry Clinic, the Low Vision Clinic
provides a comprehensive range of vision rehabilitation services, including
assessment, prescription, instruction and rehabilitation; information and
referral for medical, social, educational, vocational and financial services;
liaison with applicable government programs and services, and groups serving
the low vision population; consultation with and referral to other speciality
clinics within the School of Optometry and to community services; and basic
and clinical research into various aspects of low vision.
Appointments are required, and are made by referral, or by individual request.
Anyone requesting an appointment will be asked to provide some preliminary
background information before an appointment is finalized. This ensures that
all of the necessary equipment, services and personnel are available for each
patient's visit. For more information call the CSE at (519) 888-4708 or University of
Waterloo ext. 4708 (Fax: 519-746-2337) or e-mail Linda Vorsteveld
(l2vorste@uwaterloo.ca).
Sight Enhancement Equipment Pool and Authorization Centre (SEEPAC)
As suggested by its title, this Sight Enhancement Equipment Pool and Authorization
Centre (SEEPAC) has two component functions. SEEPAC's primary service objective
is to provide high technology (computer and CCTV devices) assessment/authorization
services in an effective, efficient and economical manner, while acknowledging the
dignity and autonomy of the service customers. SEEPAC has developed a series of
credible and effective assessment protocols which are shared by other high
technology device "prescribers". SEEPAC's administrative mission is to manage the
aggregate inventory (or "pool") of high technology devices and CCTV systems
allocated for this Ontario program. This involves acquiring, storing and
distributing the project inventory in accordance with policies of the Assistive
Devices Program (ADP). Inventory management, transactional support, technical
support and efficient shipping and receiving are facilitated by an interactive,
on-line, bar-coded inventory system, which was developed for this project.
The success of this project is demonstrated by the expansion of the network of
regional assessment centres across the province. CSE personnel are instrumental
in providing the planning, management, and training support that is required to
create these regional centres. Ongoing inventory and technical support for these
centres is provided by SEEPAC.
Ontario Rehabilitation Technology Consortium (ORTC) - Vision Team
Centre personnel also have collaborated extensively with consumers, service
providers, devices suppliers and other government agenices within the Ontario
Rehabilitation Technology Consortium (ORTC). The current CSE Director is the
leader of the ORTC's Vision Research Team. He and other CSE researchers are
principal investigators for several applied research and technology transfer
activities within the ORTC. Several new assistive device products have been
brought to market with input and assistance from CSE researchers. These
include a variety of neural network-based optical character recognition
(OCR) projects for low vision computer users (developed and manufactured
by International Neural Machines), and a novel spectacle mounted autofocus
telescope system (developed and manufactured by Ocutech, Inc). The
commercialization of several additional products is imminent. These products
are being researched and developed in partnership with the University of
Waterloo Sight Enhancement Engineering Lab (WatSEE) and several Canadian
industry partners.
Head-Mounted Low Vision Devices (MHLVD) Clinic
There are a growing number of video-based head-mounted low vision devices
in the marketplace. Often these systems require significant amounts of
adaptation and training before they can be maximally effective.
Rehabilitation professionals from the University of Waterloo Centre for
Sight Enhancement and from the Mohwak College Program for Instructors of
the Blind and Visually Impaired have collaborated in the development of
appropriate protocols for the assessment, prescribing and training of
people who would benefit from these devices.
