Genetics is a complex subject, and The Foundation Fighting Blindness has prepared another booklet, "The Inheritance of Retinal Degenerations," to explain this topic in detail. (This can be ordered by using The Foundation's Publication Order Form.) There are so many different forms of RP, which fall within one of three standard inheritance patterns. Each type of inheritance will create a different pattern of affected and unaffected family members.

Tom Tarrant: "I don't ever remember seeing in the dark. I just don't know what that's like. I remember Halloween when I was a little boy, walking into poles." RP symptoms can vary. In a person with classic or typical RP, night vision and peripheral (or side) vision will be affected initially. Night blindness is one of the earliest and most frequent symptoms of RP, and it refers to difficulty seeing not only at night but also in dimly lit places, such as restaurants and movie theaters.

quot;I was diagnosed at 14 years old and before that I always remember not being able to see at night and being 'klutzy'," remembers Rob Lee. "I was bad at soccer and basketball and didn't know why. I figured that I saw the way everyone else did, but just wasn't as good as others. Being diagnosed with RP was somewhat of a relief to me because it gave me a reason why I couldn't do certain things and why I was a little different from my friends and brothers.

It is not unusual for an individual with RP to develop a cataract, which is a clouding of the lens of the eye. Cataracts that significantly interfere with vision can be surgically removed. While cataract surgery cannot improve vision loss due to retinal degeneration, it can lessen the vision loss caused by the cataract.

quot;Every year I lose a little bit of vision, and every year I do some adjusting," notes Tom Tarrant, who describes himself as "still having a lot of useable vision," although he is legally blind. While gradual vision loss is the common feature of almost all forms of RP, there is no predictable rate of loss, even for people in the same family. Usually the progression is quite slow. Vision sometimes appears to remain stable between annual eye examinations.

Some women have reported that their RP has progressed more rapidly during pregnancy than it ever had previously. However, because RP is rare, this issue is difficult to study in a systematic way. If you are pregnant, or thinking of becoming pregnant, you should make sure that your obstetrician/gynecologist is aware of your eye problems, and that your eye care professional knows of your pregnancy.

Blindness, to most people, means a complete loss of sight. As they grow older, some people with RP do become blind in this sense. However, many will retain a small amount of vision such as light perception. A majority of people with RP are legally blind by the age of 40. People who are legally blind usually maintain a good deal of functional vision supplemented by adaptive technology.

This is a difficult question. Many people with RP do drive legally, and do not have problems. Legal vision requirements for a driver's license vary widely from state to state. It would be best to discuss your visual limitations and their effect on driving with your eye care professional. Driving is a symbol of independence and people with progressive vision loss may be unwilling to admit that their vision impairment may affect safe driving.

People with RP and other retinal degenerative diseases continue to lead productive lives and pursue their career goals. By determining appropriate equipment, training, and other job modifications in a chosen field, potential concerns and problems can be identified and possibly postponed. Vocational counseling, offered through educational institutions or state or local agencies, can be very helpful when planning or pursuing a career.

RP is sometimes associated with syndromes that also affect other parts of the body. Usher syndrome causes hearing loss and vision loss from RP. Although Bardet-Biedl syndrome can involve many part of the body, the defining features of this syndrome are extra fingers and/or toes (which are present at birth) and obesity. Other diseases have a retinal degeneration that is similar to RP.

If you think you're being snubbed, double-check the FAQ and Tips & Tricks to see if you overlooked something. Be aware that the other players have probably been working on a story long before you joined. Sometimes they welcome fresh meat, sometimes they're afraid a Newbie will ruin everything. Try e-mailing the person you want to interact with. Ask them what they are writing about and what you should know, then try writing a RP that fits into their story.

The administrators here at FFR have the responsibility of handing out RP. Show initiative, help us out here at the forums, produce a good piece of artwork or start an inventive thread, and you may receive some RP as a reward. Please don't beg for RP, if you do that, chances are people won't give you any. Contribute to the boards, produce a great piece of artwork for the Graphical Asylum/Fanart forums and help people out, and someone is sure to donate some RP in your favor.

quot;Deciding whether or not to have children is a personal decision that everyone with RP has to make, and it is not an easy one," says Diane Ryan, who has RP. (She is also Tom Tarrant's mother.) Although she did not know her own diagnosis until after her children were born, she has shared her sons' struggles with the decision of whether to take the risk of passing an RP gene to their offspring.

Tests can definitively diagnose RP. There are two basic categories: those that are psychophysically based, and those that are electrophysiologically based. Each test has a specific function, and it may not be necessary for your doctor to use all of the tests described here to test your vision. If you have questions about why your doctor is or isn't performing a certain test or using a certain instrument, it is important that you ask your doctor to explain.

Mobility independence is enhanced by living in or near a metropolitan area where public transportation is readily available. Many aids, services, and techniques are available to assist people with RP to conduct the daily business of living like cooking, cleaning, reading the mail, etc. Some of these will be described later in this booklet.

While researchers are gaining new understandings about the precise genetic causes of RP and the actual mechanisms of the disease, so far research has not found a way to halt the degeneration of the retina or to restore lost vision. However, research is continuing in several different areas that offer hope for people with RP. Among the most exciting recent findings were the results of a six year clinical study reported in June 1993 concerning vitamin A palmitate and RP.

No. Medical technology is not yet advanced enough to transplant the entire eye. It is simply impossible to reconnect the nerves leading from the eye to the brain. What you may have heard referred to as an "eye transplant" is probably the process of corneal transplantation, which is a valuable visionsaving procedure for some people, but unfortunately has no relationship to the problems in the eye caused by RP.

Becky Andrews of The Foundation's Utah Affiliate shares her story: "I didn't know I had RP until I was 18. The doctors knew prior to that, but didn't share that information with my parents until that time. Before that I didn't know what the problem was. When friends asked why I walked right past them, I assumed that I wasn't paying attention, when actually I didn't see them. Knowing that there was a reason for this happening or bumping into things helped me to feel more normal.

Classes are not required, unless you plan to advance. Your character does not have to be in all their classes, either. You can pick and choose or go to all. The choice is yours. If a lesson is locked, that means that lesson is over. You do not need to go back and complete that lesson. When a new one opens, just jump in and start RPing!

Most RP is done on the IC MBs or in the IC CR. From time to time someone will create and host a RP of a specific event or time. This will be held in the RP section of the MBs. The way to get such a slot is to email the Keeper of the Chronicles with the specifics, including who may participate and what the title will be, or better yet, just fill out the form!

FreeForm models can easily be used by rapid prototyping systems. FreeForm models can be exported as STL files and brought directly into SLA, SLS, ThermoJet, and other systems.

Email a Council member- see the Staff page on this website or click "Contact Administrator" on the forums page. Post a thread in the "Feedback-Help" forum. This enables you to get help from other members and moderators as well, not just an administrator.

Yes. Through the efforts of The Foundation Fighting Blindness, the number of highly qualified scientists working fulltime on RP and related diseases continues to grow. With financial support from The Foundation, clinical specialists and laboratory scientists at more than 40 medical and research institutions in the U.S. and around the world are working on research projects related to retinal degenerations. Other projects are supported by government funds.

Over the years, practitioners have offered various unproven therapies for the treatment of blindness. Practitioners of unproven therapies are often well intentioned people who want to help patients. However, without prior testing in carefully controlled clinical trials, patients may be exposing themselves to treatments that could actually accelerate vision loss or cause harmful side effects.

There are many, with the possibilities growing all the time. Audio description is available for many videos and theater productions, providing a non-intrusive description of scenery, costumes, facial expressions, and other fine points that a visually impaired person may not detect. Books on tape and in braille, available from the Library of Congress and many other sources, make literature easily accessible to people with visual impairments.

Because RP is a genetic condition that is likely to directly or indirectly affect more than one member of a family, it is important that families know that there are resources available to help them cope with the life changing situations the disease may bring. Families with RP may find it helpful to discuss their questions and concerns with other people who have similar experiences.

afterlab, Ethereal and Soulstone are all able to distribute RP to the mods on a regular basis so that the mods can reward the members with it!

Both direct and indirect costs incurred by the state for response to a release or threatened release of oil or a hazardous substance, as well as costs incurred for cleanup or remediation of a contaminated site are charged to the responsible party. DEC's staff salaries and benefits such as health care, and employer payroll taxes. These costs are billed using an annually calculated standard hourly rate, by job classification.