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Living with macular disease can be frustrating, but with the right guidance and support, people can cope very well. Our services can give you the tools to learn more about your condition and to help maintain your independence.

There is a lot of support available to you if you have macular disease. We have compiled these guides to explain the benefits you may be eligible for and how to seek practical help with your daily life and work.

Explore what support is available for you and how low vision assessments could help with your daily life and work.

Regular visits to your eye clinic for eye examinations are important. Your Ophthalmologist can detect any changes in your condition and let you know if any new treatment is available. Low vision assessments are recommended to establish if any optical aids, such as glasses and magnifiers, would be useful.

If you have a permanent visual impairment, you may be eligible to be registered as sight impaired or severely sight impaired. Being registered often makes it easier to get practical help, and you may qualify for certain benefits. 

Being diagnosed with macular disease doesn’t mean you must give up working – far from it. You can continue to make a valuable contribution in the workplace. Understand your legal rights and the range of support that’s out there for you.

Due to your macular disease you might find it difficult to work or get a job and therefore you may need to claim a welfare benefit to cover your day-to-day living expenses. If you are aged between 16 and pension age and depending on your circumstances this will be one of two benefits, New Style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit (UC).

Macular disease should not be a barrier to employment. It is understandable that you might worry you will not be able to keep your job when you’ve received a macular disease diagnosis. However, with a few changes to how you work, and by being open with your employer, you should be able to continue working.

Looking for work can be hard, and even more so when you have macular disease. It is difficult to know where to start and what kind of work to look for. In this section you will find several videos which will help address some of your concerns.

Following a diagnosis of macular disease, one of the main concerns of those who are employed is whether or not they will still be able to keep working. The employers are expected to make some adjustments to the work place, to help their employee keep their job. These are called ‘reasonable adjustments’ and the cost is covered by the employer. The Access to Work (ATW) scheme funded by the government pays for adjustments that are not considered reasonable for the employer to fund.