Vision Rehabilitation
In 1982, the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO) in the United States published an educational program entitled “Rehabilitative Optometry.”¹ ASCO described rehabilitative optometry as the area of optometry encompassing the knowledge, skills, and professional competencies required to ensure appropriate and cost-effective care for patients whose visual performance remains insufficient to meet the visual demands of work, leisure activities, social interaction, or everyday life, despite refractive error correction and the use of standard visual aids.1
In Germany, the term was first used in 1977 during a lecture by Herbert L. Moss, O.D., at the International Congress of Ophthalmic Opticians in Düsseldorf. Under the German title “Rehabilitations-Optometrie” (Rehabilitative Optometry), the American colleague discussed this subspecialty within optometry and described, among other things, the provision of a custom-designed ptosis spectacle for a patient.2
Today, the term “Vision Rehabilitation” is predominantly used in the United States to refer to this area of optometry. In June 2019, the Board of Trustees of the American Optometric Association (AOA) adopted a new definition of the field. The AOA defines vision rehabilitation as an interdisciplinary care system within optometric practice that is based on the model of rehabilitation medicine and prioritizes functional treatment outcomes over an approach focused solely on visual acuity.3
Internationally, vision rehabilitation is now recognized as an interdisciplinary field of expertise within rehabilitative medicine.4
This issue of OCL features two articles devoted to this field. These include studies investigating the effects of “multimodal eccentric vision training on reading speed” and examining “optometric and ergonomic care at computer workstations for individuals with functional monocularity.”
The other scientific and clinical contributions in issue 4 of OCL 2026 illustrate the journal’s broad scope and ongoing development. None of this would be possible without the dedicated contributions of authors and reviewers from the fields of optometry and ophthalmology. OCL sees itself as an internationally oriented professional journal, with a German-language print edition and English-language open-access publications. Its engagement with the international scientific community is reflected in particular in the growing number of international contributions.
With this in mind, on behalf of the Editorial Board, I would like to thank all our readers, authors, and industry partners for their support. I wish everyone a healthy and peaceful year 2027.
1 Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO). (1982). A Plan for an Educational Program in Rehabilitative Optometry. Journal of Optometric Education, 7, 4, 13–18
2 Moss, H. L. (1977). Rehabilitations-Optometrie. Paper presented at the International Ophthalmic Optical Congress, Düsseldorf, 14–19 May. Program booklet, p. 171.
3 American Optometric Association. (2019). Vision rehabilitation: Model of care. St. Louis: American Optometric Association, https://www.aoa.org/practice/specialties/vision-rehabilitation. Referencing: 12 September 2026.
4 Roberts, P. S., Rizzo, J. R., Hreha, K., Wertheimer, J., Kaldenberg, J., Hironaka, D., Riggs, R., Colenbrander, A. (2016). A conceptual model for vision rehabilitation. J. Rehabil. Res. Dev., 253, 693-704.