Going to restaurants

Restaurants call darkened rooms atmosphere. Low vision patients call them impossible. There are strategies to make things easier for low vision patients if only they knew them. We teach our patients to “spider walk” their fingers around the dinner table to enable them to locate glasses, silverware and everything else on the table. Another helpful tip is to use a small pocket flashlight and magnifiers to look at the menu. Many restaurants have their menus posted online so that patients can go to the restaurant’s website and take the time they need to read the menu. This also helps the self-consciousness many patients feel when they have to ask their server to read the menu for them. Going to a restaurant should be a pleasurable, social experience and not one filled with embarrassment.