Faculty, students, and alumni from the University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Occupational Therapy played a prominent role at Vision 2025: the 15th International Society for Low Vision Research and Rehabilitation Conference (ISLRR), which took place September 8–12, 2025, in Florence, Italy.
The meeting brought together specialists from more than 40 countries and from disciplines that included ophthalmology, optometry, rehabilitation, psychology, and genetics.
“Attending ISLRR was an inspiring reminder that low vision rehabilitation is truly a team effort,” said Dr. Jason Vice. “Seeing experts from so many professions and backgrounds learning side by side reinforced the importance of collaboration in shaping the future of care.”
The 13 presentations and courses contributed by the department’s faculty, PhD students, and alumni highlight its status as an international leader in low vision rehabilitation.
Faculty: Leading with Education
Dr. Beth Barstow and Dr. Jason Vice led two instructional courses: Reading Assessments and Vision Loss and Occupational Therapy and Vision Rehabilitation. These sessions introduced frameworks to help practitioners evaluate and address functional vision loss.
Drs. Barstow and Vice presented Building Bridges in Vision Rehabilitation: A Model for Global Collaboration. This symposium highlighted strategies for international partnerships that expand access to vision rehabilitation education and practice.
UAB’s 3-year relationship with South African low vision groups, such as the Low Vision Centre for Learning , and practitioners, including symposium co-author Belinda Leibowitz, has produced a structured taxonomy for low vision occupational therapy. It has also led to two low vision conferences in Johannesburg. The events, held in 2024 and 2025, offered training in assessment and management to occupational therapists, optometrists, physiotherapists, and orientation and mobility specialists from South Africa, Namibia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Dr. Laurie Malone coauthored a poster presentation on an adaptive sport and recreation program for U.S. military personnel with vision impairment, which demonstrated positive effects on lifestyle and participation.
Students: Expanding the Evidence Base
Two PhD in Rehabilitation Science students presented research:
- Occupational therapist Lulwah Almulhim gave an oral presentation on her study of normative data for the Bioness Integrated Therapy System (BITS) in visual scanning tasks. Occupational therapy and vision rehabilitation practitioners can use these data to screen, train, and assess the progress of individuals with visual scanning deficits.
- Optometrist Sunkanmi Arogbokun presented a poster on management of a patient with uveal coloboma, a rare congenital eye condition. Combining optical and non-optical aids decreased visual demands and improved comfort and quality of life. A second poster focused on an in-progress scoping review of fall risk assessment questionnaires for people with vision impairment. Mr. Arogbokun and colleagues anticipate identifying existing tools’ applicability across individuals and ways to address challenges such as environmental hazards and fear of falling.
Alumni: Examining Technology, Older Adults, OT-first Care
UAB Low Vision Rehabilitation Graduate Certificate program alums presented several works:
- Michelle Bianchi, a low vision OT at the Richard E. Hoover Low Vision Rehabilitation Services, led a course section using technology to overcome reading barriers
- Debbie Boey, a senior occupational therapist at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore, reported on use of the Performance Quality Rating Scale to assess functional visual performance in older adults. A second poster detailed results from a pilot study on activity participation among older adults with visual impairments.
- Omar Mohiuddin, a low vision rehab specialist at Duke Health, presented a questionnaire-based study showing that patients with age-related macular degeneration were highly satisfied seeing an OT before or instead of an optometrist. This reduced wait times from about 9 months to 1 month, and 100% of participants said they continued to use the devices and strategies shared in the OT appointments.
- Holly Stants, low vision team leader at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Rehabilitation Institute, shared work on cell phone accessibility features that can promote social inclusion. She also presented strategies to help patients overcome barriers in the use of healthcare apps and portals.
Lulwah Almulhim 
Sunkanmi Arogbokun
