Ulterior Interior: Eyesight

Part three of three parts by Duane Alan Hahn.

I created these Ulterior Interior pages in case they might help someone. I get an ignorant troll or two making fun of me because of these pages once in a while, but it seems like these pages help others more than they hurt me, so I'll keep them up. Some of the things I mention might be common to everyone, but I'm listing everything I can think of just in case.

Flat and Painful

I'm farsighted and have esophoria or esotropia which means one of my eyes is positioned inward a little. Each eye turns off and on in a continual fight with each other for domination which gives me constant eyestrain and I see things flat (like when you watch TV). I've read that at least twelve percent of all humans have some kind of binocular vision problem. When I take the Framing Game test (holding up a thumb and focusing at a dot on the screen) 'both' thumbs are transparent then one is normal looking and the other is faint then they both go transparent again and they constantly change that way the whole time. This explains why I can't see in 3D, have a hard time reading, and have constant pain (I discovered that Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil usually eliminates that pain).

I also have a wide field of vision, which means that my peripheral vision is better than a lot of people (the visual field ends about where my ears start). I have a hard time focusing on one thing and it seems like my brain tries to pay attention to everything at once. I have a hard time trying to find things at places such as the library because there are so many colors, words, and shapes.

A Glimpse of the 3D World

The only eye doctor I ever went to that could understand my problems was in 1985. He gave me glasses with prisms that allowed me to see in 3D for the first time in my life and the pain I had in my eyes finally went away. It was hard to walk while wearing them for a while. I could see and feel the space between objects which was weird. The only time I ever came close to seeing in 3D was while looking through good quality binoculars or a View-Master.

One thing I don't understand is that even though I got to see in 3D, all of my dreams stayed flat. I never even got to have one dream in 3D.

Six months to a year after I got the glasses, they stopped working. The doctor was in a different state and we didn't have any money anyway, so I never got to go back to his office. Most of the supposed "doctors" I've been to since then didn't do the same tests and didn't take as much time. Maybe one day I'll be able to get a good quality eye exam again instead of what has been perpetrated by deficient doctors that I've been sent to over the years.

Unqualified Unbeliever

In the mid 1990s, an Ophthalmologist I was sent to didn't believe in esotropia or esophoria. He said I should just learn to live with the pain because he couldn't see anything wrong with my eyes. I spent more time in this guy's waiting room than I did in his examination room. I've been told by many people that Ophthalmologists don't know as much as Optometrists and I have no doubt about that because after I told this quack that I used to have glasses that relieved my eyestrain which also made me see in 3D, he didn't want to hear about it. He just kept saying that I should learn to live with it.

Upper-Class Clueless

The statement, "learn to live with it" is often used by the unenlightened because it's so much easier than being up-to-date on the latest studies and technology. Most well-adjusted professionals with comfortable lives have no clue what it's like to have various problems, so they spout their stale, ignorant, one-size-fits-all drivel and double-talk. The main problem with most of these people isn't that they want you to learn how to live with your problems, it's that they think you can instantly become "normal" just by willing it.

You can't let people with no imagination and an outdated education talk you out of looking for answers. Many of the doctors and other professionals I've seen so far seem to leave college with the idea that their education is over. People like that cannot be trusted. If they're not up-to-date, they're useless. People who aren't that sharp are never on the cutting edge.

Update

In January of 2004, I got new glasses. The constant eyestrain I was having was almost all gone when I wore them, but I still couldn't see in 3D. The pain in my eyes came back, but the glasses were still better than nothing.

In March of 2005, I started taking Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil capsules and about a week later, I could see better without my glasses. I still can't see in 3D, but at least my vision and most of the pain is gone. The pain still comes back when I get tired.

Memory Asperger's Syndrome Eyesight