Question:
Dear Dr. Simonsz,
I was born with strabismus, with my eyes turned inward, and have had 3
corrective
surgeries to straighten them (two when I was 2, one when I was 9). All my
life (I am
now 35) I have only seen with one eye at a time, favoring my slightly
stronger left eye
more often than my right, even though it does drift when I'm using my right
eye. I
believe I only wore a patch when I was quite small, prior to my first two
surgeries.
Because of my lack of depth perception I never learned to drive, much less
persued
playing in any sports--learning to ride a bike was hard enough and books
were a much
easier thing to tackle. However, at this point in my life, I've reached a
stage where
"enough is enough": I want to see "normally" (i.e., both eyes working
together), I
don't want to have to depend on others to get me places, and I want to be
able to drive.
Is this possible at my age? If so what techniques can I use? Is there a
visual therapy?
How long would such a treatment take? If not, do you know of many people
with
strabismus and suppression (I believe that would be the right way to
describe it) who do
drive? Am I being too overly fearful of being on the road with a depth
perception
problem? My main concern is reacting too late to an object (car, person,
etc.) that has
just "entered" my limited field of vision. For example, if I'm seeing with
my left eye
and the object is approaching from the right, it might be too late for me
to react. This
has occurred to me several times growing up when I thought I had looked
both ways
before crossing the street, only to suddenly hear screeching brakes and
find a car just
about to run me over when I'm halfway across the road. Some optometrists
have
performed tests to confirm my limited perspective: I stare straight ahead
with one eye
(and then the other) and push a button when I see a white light enter my
view. Thank
you for any info you can give me. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Charles Lauder, Jr.
San Diego, California, U.S.A.
(Charles Lauder, Jr.)
Answer:
Dear Charles,
I wonder why you are having so much difficulty riding a bicycle, driving a
car or
crossing the street. 5 % of the population only sees with one eye and most
of them have
no problem driving. Problems like reacting too late to an object entering
your visual
field, or overlooking cars when crossing the street, are not related to
depth perception
with straight eyes. There may be an another reason for overlooking objects,
like a
decreased visual acuity or a restricted visual field. Let me know whether
this is the case.
An improvement of binocular vision and depth perception, by surgery or by
exercise, is
not to be expected after childhood.
Yours truly,
(Herb Simonsz, MD, PhD)
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