Blog vol 3. 49. Looking back at a legend.
Dr. Eleanor Faye was a wonderful personal mentor. When I was going through Optometry school in the 80s I used a text in Low Vision called Clinical Low Vision, which was written by Dr. Eleanor E. Faye. I was so taken by her care and compassion, it inspired me to specialize in this field.
“Low vision” refers to the care and assistance of people with visual impairment. These people are not blind but have reduced vision to one degree or another.
After two years in private practice, I decided to take a residency in Low Vision at the University of Waterloo, a year-long practicum in the area of visual impairment and disability. Dr. Faye’s book was what inspired me and the wonderful staff and doctors at the Centre for Sight Enhancement in Waterloo were more than eager to share their knowledge and their love of these patients.
Low Vision is a nice blend of Ophthalmology, Optometry, Counselling, and Social work. In the early 90’s the incidence of visual impairments was projected to increase dramatically, especially as our population aged. Thankfully, improvements in treatment and prevention have made these predictions less dire. Yet there is still a large need for this work.
I completed my residency in the fall of ’91 and proceeded to set up a practice devoted to helping the visually impaired and serving long-term care homes in Southwestern Ontario. I worked mostly out of my trunk and had a home office. I continued this work full-time until 1998 and since then have pursued it in conjunction with regular practice.
In the fall of ’93 at the American Academy of Optometry meetings in Boston, I had the pleasure of talking with Dr. Eleanor. She did not disappoint. Dr. Faye was a trained Ophthalmologist with a love for the low-vision patient; the person and the book were all one.
Dr. Faye died in January 2020 at the age of 97. Her groundbreaking work in the field of visual impairment has inspired and helped many. She focussed on using the vision the person has, however little it is, as best possible. This was revolutionary in medicine which wants to fix problems and struggles with what to do with problems that cannot be fixed. Dr. Faye saw the person behind the problem.
Hopefully, we can all be like that.
‘til next week,
the good doctor
