Markus Strasser

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Fixing My Gaze

Book about having strabism and fixing it in adulthood

I think the consensus is that you probably don’t have strabism in adulthood if you live in a 1st world country and have semi-competent parents (definitely not me)

Description of strabism (mirrors my experience)

While I could infer indirectly a sense of depth through cues like perspective and shading, I could not synthesize stereoscopic depth from other visual attributes, such as color, position, form, or brightness.

The sensation provided by stereopsis of empty space and things projecting or receding into that space is unique.

Just as I could not imagine a world in stereo depth, an individual with normal stereopsis cannot experience the world view of a person who has always lacked stereopsis.

This may be surprising because you can eliminate cues from stereopsis simply by closing one eye. What’s more, many people do not notice a great difference when viewing the world with one eye or two.

When a normal binocular viewer closes one eye, however, he or she still uses a lifetime of past visual experiences to re-create the missing stereo information

The childhood that could have been...

He just kept touching them and turning them, inspecting each tiny detail. And that was just the beginning. . . . Now he walks up to children, introduces himself, and plays all sorts of games.

As for coloring and painting, he can’t get enough of it. . . . He loves puzzles. . . . He is writing. . . .

Improving his vision has accelerated his social and cognitive skills. My shy, reclusive, difficult boy has become a curious, adventurous, and happy four-year-old.

Fixing My Gaze