[Visual handicap, autonomy and third party compensation. Evaluation trials]

Nowadays visual disability compensation, as for other disabilities, is mainly contingent on the patient's obtaining an allowance for a third party, but this is increasingly related to the concept of autonomy in the main activities of everyday life. This concept cannot be applied to visual handicaps. A special allowance, however, which need not be identical to that of third party compensation but would cover the poor-sighted currently in groups 2 and 3, whatever the extent of their handicap, may be the right solution for the Authorities to adopt, due to the specific nature of the visual handicap.