Instead of E, say 3. Then the doc will think you’ve got some condition that causes you to see things backwards.
I used to be that way, then I got Lasik. I recommend it 100% and unreservedly. Worth twice the price.
The correct-as-taught-in-school procedure (meaning few eye doctors actually do this) if the patient can’t see the E is to walk the patient to the chart (or move the chart to the patient) then use the distance from the chart he/she can finally see the “E” to figure out the Snellen acuity.
So, if you can see the big “E” (20/400 line) at 8 feet for a chart that’s calibrated for 20 feet, your actual Snellen acuity is 8/400, or 20/1000.
(That’s my Snellen acuity. Stupid double digit myopia.)
That first day in methods lab, being walked up to the Snellen chart, I started to feel a) really blind and b) a little insulted…
Only with that kind of chart, the Snellen. (The 20/___ fraction is called a Snellen fraction.) We use a method called ETDRS which has 5 letters per line.
There are computerized Snellen charts (and logMAR, which the above seems to be a version of) that are randomized. This is better, for a few reasons – people can’t memorize their way out of a driving vision test, for example. And you don’t get people claiming they can see the E when they can’t, like BellRung. 
Yeah, our clinic rooms have little computerized screens with letters being flashed randomly; I think they’re Snellen-based. IIRC, ETDRS (wow, that’s a lot of acronyming there) does use logMAR, and is very commonly used in ophthalmic research, which is my end of the profession.
I always joke that “I can’t see the E” but it’s been a very long time since I’ve actually seen that old classic Snellen chart.
Hear, hear. I wish I had done it 10 years ago. I went from terribly near-sighted to 20-15 in both eyes. I couldn’t be happier with my results.
I was so happy that my drivers license expired this summer. I went in, blew through the chart, and had that sucky “Restriction- corrective lenses” removed, that had been on there for 26 years. 
Is this when you can see the E clearly, or just when you can tell what it is? If it is clearly, I would be able to do it until I had my nose smooshed against that chart.
Just as a passing observation, not everyone is so lucky. I had Lasik and got sucky results. My right eye is reasonably good, my left eye is virtually useless, and I have frequent bouts of dry eye (a common artifact of Lasik). I see very poorly under fluorescent lighting (including the “compact fluorescent” bulbs that are replacing incandescent lighting everywhere), I can’t read without reading glasses (Lasik doesn’t correct “old age eyes”, or presbyopia, which tends to set in sometime after age 40), and my doctor keeps on telling me that I can see even though I can not. I am not alone in having these difficulties. Several of my co-workers have had similar results, and I read an article in the NY Times about 6-9 months ago about the fact that many people have the same problems.
This is NOT to say that people should forego Lasik if it feels right for them. I am just pointing out that it frequently is neither as effective nor as carefree as one may have been led to believe. ( I keep thinking about Tiger Woods, who, as a number of wall posters and brochures at my opthalmalogist’s office point out, had very successful Lasik, and wondering just how much of an international outcry there would have been had his outcome been anywhere near as disappointing as mine.)
ETA: just in case you were wondering, my Lasik surgeon was no quack. He is very reputable. But the fact is that Lasik just doesn’t work out for some people, no matter who performs it.
You can see the chart? Before I had Lasik, my optometrist would have me sit down, turn off the overhead lights, take off my glasses, and tell me to “look towards the light.” 
(He used a lighted chart. There was no way I could see the chart, or the wall for that matter, without my glasses.
After Lasik, I saw often saw auras at night for years. I still have trouble seeing in certain kinds of lighting and have chronically dry eyes. I was warned before surgery that I would still need reading glasses for presbyopia. Ten years later, and it’s still worth it for me. (I found out years later that my doctor was something of a hot dog, and a more conservative doctor would not have performed my surgery. You may want a second opinion if you’re considering Lasik.)
Just tell what it is. Some docs will even give you credit for an “F”. 
That’s me - I go to the eye doctor, they have me take my contacts out and I can’t even tell there’s a chart projected on the wall. I’m debating whether I want to consider Lasik, but I just don’t know.
You (and I) got some of the early Lasik. Later procedures have much less auras and can be performed on more eyes. (I call it “starring” not auras but I know what you mean, especially if your eyes are dry and tired?)
I first got my glasses in 8th grade in order to see the black board. They couldn’t just change the damn seating chart and let me sit up front, nope couldn’t do that. The second time I went for new glasses the plastic lenses were more popular and the eye doctor said it was a good thing because if I went with glass my new glasses would look like coke bottle bottoms. I was like :eek:
I can usually see the E without my glasses. I might get the next line if I squint at it long enough but I sometimes miss a few. Any lines after that are blurs.
i couldn’t fold the temples of my last pair of glasses before featherweights. the thick lens would stop them.
i would love to have lasiks, not a good candidate for it. looks like i’ll have to wait for cataracts for eyeball correction.
I had to start wearing glasses in the fifth grade. When the doctor delivered the news, I refused to believe it. “I can see just fine,” I told my mother. When the day came and the glasses were ready, I put on the glasses and could suddenly read signs off in the distance. The first thing I said was, “Wow, I guess I really did need glasses.”
I used to joke that the lab had to order my lenses from the local Coke plant and then grind them to my prescription. Often there were frames I liked but couldn’t have because they couldn’t hold my lenses.
I had that problem with two or three pairs before featherweights. I don’t know why they bothered giving me a case for my glasses, since I couldn’t use it anyway.
Exactly.
And I can’t find my glasses without my glasses, either. If I don’t put them down in exactly the same place every time, I have to get my husband (who also wears glasses) to find them for me. God help us if we ever misplace our glasses at the same time.
I thought about laser surgery at one point, and even made the appointment, then assessed the odds a little more and decided that I could spend $3000 in other ways.
I have dry, allergic eyes which prevents me wearing contacts*. I have a family history of my mom and grandma having serious eye problems which prevents me from getting lasik surgery (I don’t want to mess with the delicate equilibrium that hopefully will allow me to continue to be able to see!). I have eyes that won’t adapt to featherweights. My next pair of glasses will probably be bifocals. Why do my eyeballs hate me so much? 
I get a little bummed out by my difficult eyes, but then I cheer up again when I think that my vision is corrected to 20/20 with a fairly normal pair of glasses, so all is good.
*I try every new generation of contacts that come out, and it’s always the same result - after about 30 minutes, I’m desperate to get these itchy, irritating things off my eyeballs.
I can’t fold my glasses WITH featherweights. As near as my doc and I can tell, I’m north of 20/3000. On the other hand, I correct to 20/20 or better, so small favors right?
I can’t imagine life without corrective lenses–I have a mini panic attack if my cats have knocked my glasses off the nightstand and I can’t put them on when I’m waking up. (I can, however, eventually find my contact lens case in the bathroom by touch).