Dan Roberts

Founding Director: MD Support, Inc. and the
International Macular Degeneration Support Group

Dan Roberts is a visually-impaired teacher, author, composer, theatrical director, and musician. Because of his own need for support and information about central vision loss, he founded MD Support in 1995 and has since become a leading patient advocate and educator.

Retired since 1995 from 23 years in public school education and 33 years in church music ministry, he now teaches at his own performing arts school, which he founded in 1984. In addition, he provides presentations about vision impairment for schools, community organizations, and support groups, and he is a teaching assistant with the Department of Occupational Therapy, University of Alabama at Birmingham.

He is the author of "The First Year--Age-Related Macular Degeneration" (Marlowe & Co., New York, NY, 2006) and a contributing author to "Occupational Therapy Intervention for the Older Adult With Low Vision" (American Occupational Therapist Association, 2010). He has also authored over 100 articles about low vision plus the publications, "A Self-Help Guide to Non Visual Skills" and "Caring for the Visually Impaired". He is a consultant for pharmaceutical companies, lighting manufacturers, and dealers in protective eyewear. He is a Scholar with the Roundtable Group Expert Services Firm and a member of the low vision panel of the Society of Industry Leaders (SIL) under the auspices of Standard & Poor's Vista Research. He is a member of the Low Vision Leadership Consortium and the Low Vision Rehabilitation Study Group.

Dan Roberts is a graduate of the University of Missouri with a master's degree in education. He is the recipient of the 2004 Distinguished Service Award presented by the American Optometric Association Low Vision Rehabilitation Section. This is the highest honor given by the LVRS to an organization or individual for contributions to low vision care and distinguished service to the general welfare of the public. His organization was also awarded the National Eye Institute's 2006 Healthy Vision Community Award for innovative approaches to vision-related health education.

His demand as a speaker has taken him all over the country, with presentations at "Envision 2010" in San Antonio, LCIS in Ft. Lauderdale, and "The Vision Summit" in Washington D.C., to name a few. Articles by Dan Roberts have appeared in numerous publications, including "Boomer Advisor" magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and the Seneca News-Dispatch.

Dan and Christina have been married since 1968. They have three children and four grandchildren.