Table 2.

Number and Percent of Participants Reporting Control Strategies and Corresponding Sample Quotes

Control Strategy	N	%	Quote
Compensatory Primary (CPC)
CPC Other Means	353	97	I make contrast everywhere, I just bought new white mugs so I can see where the coffee is and I'm constantly figuring out contrast.
CPC Aid	343	94	Reading, writing my checks, my bills. I use magnifying glasses and additional light.
CPC Informal Help Initiated	276	76	Well if I go out to dinner, I ask somebody else to read the menu to me.
CPC Informal Help Accepted	258	71	My friend comes and will prepare my meals for me because I don't have sufficient sight to do them properly. I'm really very fortunate.
CPC Help Formal	164	45	I have somebody come in once a week. She goes to the supermarket with me and she can read the labels for me.
CPC Enable	28	8	If I meet somebody, I'll always say, “Hello, nice to meet you. When you see me, say hello first because I won't recognize you.”
CPC Advice	2	3	I have a friend who's a geriatric psychologist. I asked her and she said, “no, you don't have depression. You're sad because you lost something.” That I understood.
Compensatory Secondary (CSC)
CSC Intraindividual Comparison	139	38	I thank my lucky stars that it isn't worse. Everything is relative. I wouldn't want a fatal disease either, so this isn't so bad.
CSC Focus Other	136	37	I try to think of something else. I might look at the trees and the shadows of the trees.
CSC Social Comparison	109	30	This guy has Alzheimer's. I am thinking what am I feel sorry for, at least I know where I am.
CSC Attribute	66	18	I think just aging regardless of the vision is a challenge. It's all part of the aging process.
CSC Disengage	66	18	It's not life and death to give up playing tennis, it's just something I enjoyed and I now enjoy watching it. I try to watch as much as I can and appreciate it.
CSC Don't Dwell	23	6	I try to not have it annoy me. I put it in the back of my mind.
CSC Anticipate	13	4	I feel that I have to go through all my papers as much as I can, as long as I can still see them to some extent.
CSC Humor	6	2	In the ballet it's amusing because I keep going but the ballerinas have no feet. It makes it a very interesting show, like angels floating. I probably never could see what their feet were doing terribly well anyway. You see, it's a question of exaggeration of something that's always existed, which I'm used to.
Selective Primary (SPC)
SPC Effort	114	31	I push myself to do things. I try to be as self-sufficient as I can.
SPC Fight Difficulty	71	20	I'm a very determined person. I'm not going to let anything stop me.
SPC Skills	39	11	I try to find out as much information as I can. I try to imagine scenarios, and what is available in those situations to take care of it.
SPC Time	28	8	The hardest thing I have to do is try to read or make my bills. I just have to take my time.
SPC Seeking Treatment	27	7	I'm trying to find some way to recover some of it. I do see all kinds of doctors regularly and I try different things.
Selective Secondary (SSC)
SSC Positive Outlook	29	8	I can see where I can really become very bitter but I have found that it serves no purpose, so I try to keep my slant on my shortcoming on the upbeat.
SSC Enhance Value	19	5	The reading is very important to me. I live alone, I don't love television, and I can't be read to…I have to read myself.
SSC Devalue	16	4	It's silly for me to subscribe to magazines that I can't read, and do other things like that.
SSC Affective Support Accepted	12	3	I do have one friend who's in the same situation. In fact, she's further advanced in deterioration than I am. So we compare notes and we give each other hints.
SSC Enhance Control	8	2	I function. I function in everything that I have to do. Whatever I want to do I can do.
SSC Affective Support Initiated	5	1	Well, I was angry, I spoke to my daughter and she said, “You have to cope with it.”
SSC Positive Consequences	2	0	Sometimes I can sign my name or will struggle to write a check myself. When I look at the check like this and finish writing it I feel like I've accomplished something.

Note: Percentages are based on N = 364.