Lazy Eye and Depth Perception

Lazy eye, depth perception and how we see the world around us. My Story. Coping Mechanisms.

We are all aware that our sight affects the way we perceive our world. When one is born with an eye turn or develops one at a young age, it affects how we “see” the world, colors our definitions of the world around us, perhaps even our definitions of the facts of life and our role in society at large.

When one eye turns people will often refer to that condition as a lazy eye or cross eyed. These two conditions technically (or medically) aren’t the same. When an eye turns occasionally (Strabismus), it can lead to constant eye turn (Amblyopia).

I was born with a lazy eye or cross-eyed as soom people like to call it. To read my story go to this link. The medical name is strabismus and I am still discovering the ways in which it colored my definition of myself and my place in the world. The reason I devote a page to it on this website is (a) I may have partly used creativity to deal with my feelings of being an outsider and (b) I developed some unique skills to cope with the loss of depth perception and I wanted to share those with other that might need them.

First let’s define the deference between the two conditions
Strabismus: is a condition that is normally called lin which the eyeballs are not aligned properly and point in different directions. The danger with strabismus is that the brain cones may come to rely more on one eye than the other and that part of the brain circuitry connected to the less-favored eye fails to develop properly, leading to amblyopia (blindness) in that eye. When it occurs in adults, it is called adult strabismus. Nearly four in every 100 adults have adult strabismus.

Amblyopia: Partial or complete loss of vision in one eye caused by conditions that affect the normal development of vision. These conditions include strabismus, in which the eyes are crossed inward (esotropia) or turned outward (exotropia) and anisometropia, in which there is a major difference in refractive error between the two eyes from nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.

Coping Techniques

Eight Tips for Getting Along
Without Depth Perception

1. Pouring water into a cup.  When you are pouring a glass of water or any beverage, use your finger to feel the liquid.  If you someone who thinks that’s terribly unsanitary, clean your hands first.  You’d be amazed how sensitive your touch is, you won’t even always touch the liquid but you’ll know it’s getting close.
2. Walking.   Depth perception doesn’t interfere with putting one foot in front of the other but as I said before it is easy to run into things.  One trick is to walk near a wall and lightly run your fingertips along the wall.  It doesn’t have to be all the time but even every few feet will help you judge where you are in your environment.
3. Doors.   Use touch.  No one will ever notice that when you walk through the door you touch the door frame with your hand and  it keeps you from bumping your head.
4. Moving in High Traffic Areas.  Growing up with a lazy eye, I’ve always found train stations and bus terminals very terrifying.  Even when my eye turned out, I couldn’t gauge where people were and I didn’t understand why, until I realized that without depth perception it’s very hard to avoid running into people.  And it’s very easy to get hurt.  I’ve discovered two methods that work well. 
1. Look at the Floor.  I really like this one.  If you look at the floor it’s much easier to discover traffic patterns and move through the people.  Looking at the floor helps narrow your field of vision and keeps you from being overwhelmed by all the various changing moving pictures.  Also, other people tend to avoid you when you are looking at the ground.  It seems they are less likely to assume you will be the one to adjust and move around them.  Also, when you look at the floor people don’t see your lazy eye as much. 
2. Using the Matrix.  Similar to the other but less successful I find is lighting blurring your vision or taking off your glasses.  My friend calls this “using the Matrix” as he likes to think of it as being inside the movie the matrix.  You stop focusing on the individuals moving around you and focus on the whole as if it were soup or an impressionistic painting. 
5. Stairs and curbs.  Touch the edge with your heel before stepping down.  Escalators are very difficult.  I was terrified of them when I was a child.  You can use the same trick as stairs, but you want to try to put your heel right above the line that is moving.  You have to be ready to adjust your balance quickly and whatever you do DON’T grab onto the railing until BEFORE you’ve got your foot down.  You WILL fall.  It may sound obvious but I’m an intelligent woman and I’ve done it.  Your fear says hold onto the handle but it doesn’t work when the steps are moving.
6. Lighting candles.  I happen to love candles.  But lighting them can be tricky as simply you are playing with fire.  And wicks are hard to judge.  Truly, it’s a guessing game, so I suggest using torches (electric lighters that are long and far from your hands).  If you have to use matches use the long kitchen matches, it gives you time to basically touch the match to the wick.
7. Sports.  Try not to be too afraid of sports.  The ones requiring hand/eye coordination like baseball and volleyball are tough, I know, but over time with your perceived depth perception you can do ok.  Try to maintain a good sense of humor.  You can get better if you keep working at it.  Read the Inner Game of Golf which talks about seeing things in your minds eye - this is very helpful.  Also, if given the opportunity, shy away from the hand/eye coordination things and go with sports that utilize some other skills as well.  Running, swimming and soccer are a bit easier.
8. Photos.  If you are anything like me, you may be self-conscious of your lazy eye, especially when someone is taking your picture.  It’s hard emotionally because you cannot physcially control how straight your eyes are.  And there’s nothing worse than when you get a picture back and it’s really great, except your eyes are crossed.  The best way to control this is to give one cheek to the camera.  Don’t look at the camera straight on, look from the side
1. It helps your eyes looks straighter; and
2. It’s generally a more flattering picture of your face.  



Don't Have Depth Perception?
Play This Party Trick

Play catch with an eye patch.
So you have a lazy eye and don’t have any depth perception. And people, including your friends, make fun of you when you try to catch a ball. You tell them you don’t have any depth perception because of this turned eye and that you can’t see where the ball is. Still, your friend just don’t get it. Try a game a catch between you and a friend but instead of playing normally, you both wear an eye patch. I suggest using a nerf ball or something soft to play this game. For the first few minutes, you will feel exactly the same as you always do. It’s no different, you don’t have depth perception so you are always using your perceived depth perception. But your friend will be disoriented, even if just for a few seconds. And they won’t know where the ball is. And then, you friend will understand what it’s like for you when you try to play ball with others. Sometimes this can be a real eye opener for people. Either way, you will have at least a few moments where you and your friend will be playing on the same field.

Article on Depth Perception

There are many sites devoted to helping parents and children deal with lazy eye, crossed eyes and depth perception issues.  Some good sites include:

Straighteyes.com
Vision Therapy for Lazy Eye and other vision disorders - Depth Perception Stories
Vision Therapy
A site for information on Lazy Eye