A review of the impact of glare and fatigue on visual function

Educators are expected to formulate a broad understanding of the visual function of students they support with vision impairment, often beginning by reviewing the clinical measurements that are included in an ophthalmology report. However, these clinical measurements may not reflect the student’s observed visual capacity, due to overestimation of the student’s visual function. Further, these clinical measurements may sometimes not reflect the real life factors that potentially impact on the student’s visual function. This paper will review the educational and ophthalmic literature to investigate two such important factors – glare and visual fatigue. It is anticipated that educators will be able to apply the results of this review, to broaden their understanding of visual function beyond clinical measurements, and to better support students with vision impairment.