"The proportion of older adults with agerelated vision loss is estimated to be as high as one in three over the age of . In Canada thats roughly . million people. Many of these individuals turn to adaptive devices designed to magnify objects and text but these devices can be prohibitively expensive unifunctional and bulky.  Enter the iPad a technological device thats relatively cheap serves many purposes is smaller than most books and  according to new research from Concordia University in Montreal  is just as effective a visual aid as traditional devices.  A study recently described in Good Times Magazine provides the first experimental evidence that the Apple iPad is as good as technology traditionally used in reading rehabilitation for individuals with visual impairment.  And that could help with stigmatization of the elderly and disabled.  For the study the Concordiabased research team recruited  participants who ranged in age from  to . A little over half the participants had agerelated macular degeneration a disease characterized by the deterioration of the small central portion of the retina that is normally responsible for fine detailed vision tasks such as reading.  The researchers used questionnaires and tests to gauge participants visual ability and then compared the Apple iPad versus two traditionally used magnification devices to see if reading rates varied across devices. Unsurprisingly we found that most participants found it hard to read small and medium text while nearly a quarter of them reported that reading large text was much easier says Elliott Morrice an MA student in Concordias Department of Psychology and the studys first author.  What was interesting to note was that it didnt matter what technology was used to do the magnification an iPad worked just as well as a traditional device like a closed circuit television system CCTV he says. When we took previous experience into account we found that participants who had used iPads before read on average  words per minute faster than those who were using the iPad for the first time. But there were no significant differences in the reading rates of participants who had previous experience using the CCTV compared to the reading rates of firsttime CCTV users.  Another benefit is that many older adults feel stigmatized by using the traditional devices because they identify them as having an impairment or disability.  Tablet computers offer many of the same benefits while being socially acceptable says Aaron Johnson the studys senior author and an associate professor in the psychology department and a member of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation of Greater Montreal CRIR.  Whats more compared to the devices currently used by those with low vision iPads are multifunctional allowing the user to go online check email make video calls  and they cost less than the traditional devices he says. This cost saving can be both to the individual and if appropriate to the insurance companies that may provide individuals with assistive devices.  Partners in research This work was supported in part by the Vision Health Research Network the Fonds de recherche du Qubc  Sant the Antoine Turmel Foundation CRIR and the MABMackay Foundation. The studys third coauthor is JulieAndre Marinier from the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en radaptation du Montral mtropolitain and cole doptomtrie at the Universit de Montral.  Walter Wittich is a member of CRIR an assistant professor in lcole doptomtrie at Universit de Montral and an affiliated faculty member of the Department of Psychology at Concordia University.  Related linksDepartment of Psychology https de recherche interdisciplinaire en radaptation du Montral mtropolitain http doptomtrie at the Universit de Montral http Rehabilitation Centre http"