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Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions
A revelatory account of the brain's capacity for change When neuroscientist Susan Barry was fifty years old, she experienced the sense of immersion in a three dimensional world for the first time. Skyscrapers on street corners appeared to loom out toward her like the bows of giant ships. Tree branches projected upward and outward, enclosing and commanding palpable volumes of space. Leaves created intricate mosaics in 3D. Barry had been cross-eyed and stereoblind since early infancy. After half a century of perceiving her surroundings as flat and compressed, on that day she saw the city of Manhattan in stereo depth for first time in her life. As a neuroscientist, she understood just how extraordinary this transformation was, not only for herself but for the scientific understanding of the human brain. Scientists have long believed that the brain is malleable only during a "critical period" in early childhood. According to this theory, Barry's brain had organized itself when she was a baby to avoid double vision - and there was no way to rewire it as an adult. But Barry found an optometrist who prescribed a little-known program of vision therapy; after intensive training, Barry was ultimately able to accomplish what other scientists and even she herself had once considered impossible. Dubbed "Stereo Sue" by renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks, Susan Barry tells her own remarkable journey and celebrates the joyous pleasure of our senses.
268 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 5, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
July 17, 2020
Recommended to anyone who suspects they have any sort of undiagnosed vision problem, and to teachers and parents frustrated with children who seem to be having behavioral or learning disabilities for no other convincing reason. Just because you can read an eye chart at 20 ft while sitting quietly does not mean that you can catch a ball, or read comfortably, or drive.... And if you can't read comfortably, if you can't 'focus,' you're likely to be frustrated with schoolwork....
I need to find a pkg of magnetic letters to do the activity that improves peripheral vision. Scatter them over a broad space of the fridge, then, while looking only at the center, retrieve them in alphabetical order.
"Most surprising to me was that the change in my vision affected the way that I thought. I had always seen and reasoned in a step-by-step manner. I saw with one eye and then the other.... My son and daughter, when young, could grasp the details and the big picture at the same time. I didn't know how to do this until midlife, when I learned simultaneously with two eyes. Only then was I aware of the whole forest, and, within it, the trees."
The book includes reminders that when accommodations are being designed to help ppl w/ disabilities, ppl who actually face those challenges need to be consulted. "[T]he National Federation of the Blind has reported that audible traffic signals can actually compromise safety. By beeping and buzzing, the signals create extra noise and confusing echoes." A blind person is not simply a person who cannot see... "He or she may exploit different sets of connections in the brain."
Short interesting book, with glossary, bibliography, etc.
I need to consider finding a way to see if a Vision Therapist can help me with my double vision.
I need to find a pkg of magnetic letters to do the activity that improves peripheral vision. Scatter them over a broad space of the fridge, then, while looking only at the center, retrieve them in alphabetical order.
"Most surprising to me was that the change in my vision affected the way that I thought. I had always seen and reasoned in a step-by-step manner. I saw with one eye and then the other.... My son and daughter, when young, could grasp the details and the big picture at the same time. I didn't know how to do this until midlife, when I learned simultaneously with two eyes. Only then was I aware of the whole forest, and, within it, the trees."
The book includes reminders that when accommodations are being designed to help ppl w/ disabilities, ppl who actually face those challenges need to be consulted. "[T]he National Federation of the Blind has reported that audible traffic signals can actually compromise safety. By beeping and buzzing, the signals create extra noise and confusing echoes." A blind person is not simply a person who cannot see... "He or she may exploit different sets of connections in the brain."
Short interesting book, with glossary, bibliography, etc.
I need to consider finding a way to see if a Vision Therapist can help me with my double vision.
June 8, 2009
This book has the potential to be life changing. I picked it up after reading about it on amazon the week it came out. As a strabismic who lacks full depth perception, I was interested to hear of a woman who taught herself, through vision therapy, to see in 3D well after the "critical period" - what is believe to be about two years of age. Susan Barry saw in three dimensions for the first time at age 49. She relays her own experiences, and those of others, to make a compelling case for vision therapy. So compelling that I am going to try it.
I rated this book five stars because, yes, I thought it was amazing. To me, it was highly personal, because I could understand so much of what Barry was going through and feeling. I may have figured out why I've struggled with reading at different times throughout my life, why I can't read music, and maybe even why I don't like action movies! The hope Barry has given me about seeing a 3D world (which, according to her, I can't even BEGIN to imagine) is huge.
Content-wise, this book was a great blend of personal and scientific anecdote and research. I have more questions as to why the medical community at large seems unconcerned with vision therapy, which I myself figured was bunk before reading this book, but I am willing to try because it sounds like seeing the world in three dimensions could truly be life changing.
This is the longest review I've ever written on goodreads, which maybe indicates just how loudly and effectively this book spoke to me.
I would recommend this book to people with strabismus and amblyopia and related disorders, and their caregivers, family and friends.
I rated this book five stars because, yes, I thought it was amazing. To me, it was highly personal, because I could understand so much of what Barry was going through and feeling. I may have figured out why I've struggled with reading at different times throughout my life, why I can't read music, and maybe even why I don't like action movies! The hope Barry has given me about seeing a 3D world (which, according to her, I can't even BEGIN to imagine) is huge.
Content-wise, this book was a great blend of personal and scientific anecdote and research. I have more questions as to why the medical community at large seems unconcerned with vision therapy, which I myself figured was bunk before reading this book, but I am willing to try because it sounds like seeing the world in three dimensions could truly be life changing.
This is the longest review I've ever written on goodreads, which maybe indicates just how loudly and effectively this book spoke to me.
I would recommend this book to people with strabismus and amblyopia and related disorders, and their caregivers, family and friends.
Read
September 16, 2022An absolutely fascinating account of learning to see in 3D at the age of 48. I will never take three-dimensional sight for granted again.
August 20, 2009
I'm strabismic like the author, tho my problems aren't as severe. While I've known all my life that I see differently than others, I never really knew why, how, and what it meant. Its amazing to learn all that, and mind blowing that there might literally be a an entire dimension out there that I'm not seeing!
Well written. She's a neurobiologist, but doesn't get bogged down in the science.
Well written. She's a neurobiologist, but doesn't get bogged down in the science.
September 18, 2018
This book had some pretty interesting elements. First of all, I’m a big fan of books that advocate (and empirically support) the idea that you can positively change your mind and your body throughout your lifetime. As a neuroscientist, I have a special soft spot for stories of adult neural plasticity specifically. Also, this is my favorite category of that kind of book because it’s written from the first hand perspective of a neuroscientist. Providing both great personal detail (qualia) as well as an adept handling of the science. It’s about a woman who has had misaligned eyes from a very young age, and because of this, never developed 3D vision (stereovision). Interestingly, she could still play sports, drive, and live a normal life, because she developed compensatory mechanisms (although she did have some issues with seeing in the distance etc). In fact, her compensatory mechanisms were so good that she actually didn’t realize she lacked stereovision until a class in college that covered the visual system. She started vision therapy in her 40’s, and actually gained normal stereovision, contrary to what you would expect from the existing literature (that you can only gain stereovision during a critical period early in life, and after that it’s too late). Overall, I’m very happy for her, I think it’s an inspirational underdog story (science told her it was too late, she gained stereovision anyway), and it was interesting to think about. That said, the book is pretty boring. She’s just not a very good writer, and it really drags on. I would recommend just reading the excellent and much shorter article that Oliver Sacks wrote about her called Stereo Sue (linked at the bottom of this review). The article covers all of the most interesting parts of her story.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
August 13, 2010
When Susan Barry was an infant, she developed crossed eyes- strabisimus. When she was seven, she had surgery to correct them. They looked normal then. It wasn’t until she was in college that she realized that she didn’t have stereovision- the ability to see in three dimensions. Of course it was too late by then to do anything about it- the scientific community agreed that the cut off point for restoring stereovision was in infancy. She was way too old to change things; her brain could not be remodeled.
Then, when she was 47, she consulted an optometrist and was referred to Dr. Theresa Ruggiero, a developmental optometrist. There she learned that the doctor had patients as old as ninety. This doctor treated children with vision problems that made school difficult, people with binocular vision problems, and people whose vision had been affected by stroke or brain injury. There, she learned that while her eyes looked straight to other people, they actually didn’t line up quite right- there was several degrees of difference in them. They literally did not see the same things, and Sue’s brain had learned to adapt to that so she didn’t see double. Now her task was to both learn to align them better with eye muscle strength, and retrain her brain in how it translated the signals it got from them.
It worked. After a lot of hard work, one day her vision suddenly popped into 3-D. And it’s worked for a lot of other people, too. As neuroscientists are learning, the adult brain retains plasticity into adulthood and can be trained to make up for deficits, but that information isn’t trickling down to all doctors as fast as it should.
Today the author is a much better driver, can read longer without getting tired, and is a better tennis player. She’s not as clumsy, and revels in how marvelous things look to her now.
The book is a twining story of both her own journey to stereovision and the biological and neurological underpinnings of vision. It’s a very interesting read, a good addition to the growing number of neurology for the layman books.
Then, when she was 47, she consulted an optometrist and was referred to Dr. Theresa Ruggiero, a developmental optometrist. There she learned that the doctor had patients as old as ninety. This doctor treated children with vision problems that made school difficult, people with binocular vision problems, and people whose vision had been affected by stroke or brain injury. There, she learned that while her eyes looked straight to other people, they actually didn’t line up quite right- there was several degrees of difference in them. They literally did not see the same things, and Sue’s brain had learned to adapt to that so she didn’t see double. Now her task was to both learn to align them better with eye muscle strength, and retrain her brain in how it translated the signals it got from them.
It worked. After a lot of hard work, one day her vision suddenly popped into 3-D. And it’s worked for a lot of other people, too. As neuroscientists are learning, the adult brain retains plasticity into adulthood and can be trained to make up for deficits, but that information isn’t trickling down to all doctors as fast as it should.
Today the author is a much better driver, can read longer without getting tired, and is a better tennis player. She’s not as clumsy, and revels in how marvelous things look to her now.
The book is a twining story of both her own journey to stereovision and the biological and neurological underpinnings of vision. It’s a very interesting read, a good addition to the growing number of neurology for the layman books.
October 8, 2012
I found the message of this book so exciting that it will be hard to review it qua book. It reads a bit like the disappointing memoir Remembering Smell, and I had already read the 2006 New Yorker article, Stereo Sue, which made me wonder about my vision. The book, which goes into much more detail, leaves me as convinced as a book (rather than a medical exam) could, that I do have this problem and that it is correctable.
The two conditions discussed in the book are strabismus (cross-eyedness) and amblyopia (lazy-eye), both of which I suffer from, although not to an extent that most people could notice by looking at my face. I've often thought that I don't have good depth perception--anyone who's tried to play tennis with me would concur. Barry spends a good bit of the book explaining to people with stereoscopic vision what it is like not to have it, and devotes less attention to describing stereoscopic vision to those who don't have it. Not only did these contrasting descriptions leave me thinking that, while I may have adapted to guessing distance, I can't actually see depth, but Barry's story also made me wonder about other symptoms. For example, she talks about how she hates driving. Anyone who knows me in person knows that I've consistently arranged my lifestyle to avoid driving and that I particularly dislike driving at high speed or in unfamiliar places--it makes me anxious, although I am not an anxious person in general. It's never occurred to me that I might not like it because I just can't see well enough to process all the information and react appropriately.
The amazing thing about the author's recovery is that most of the therapy was accomplished by the most low-tech means imaginable, such as computer printouts taped to a wall or beads hung on a string, which she had to focus on in different ways. The book also has an intriguing message about the pliability of the adult brain.
The takeaway for me: the link to the website for doctors who can perform vision therapy.
The two conditions discussed in the book are strabismus (cross-eyedness) and amblyopia (lazy-eye), both of which I suffer from, although not to an extent that most people could notice by looking at my face. I've often thought that I don't have good depth perception--anyone who's tried to play tennis with me would concur. Barry spends a good bit of the book explaining to people with stereoscopic vision what it is like not to have it, and devotes less attention to describing stereoscopic vision to those who don't have it. Not only did these contrasting descriptions leave me thinking that, while I may have adapted to guessing distance, I can't actually see depth, but Barry's story also made me wonder about other symptoms. For example, she talks about how she hates driving. Anyone who knows me in person knows that I've consistently arranged my lifestyle to avoid driving and that I particularly dislike driving at high speed or in unfamiliar places--it makes me anxious, although I am not an anxious person in general. It's never occurred to me that I might not like it because I just can't see well enough to process all the information and react appropriately.
The amazing thing about the author's recovery is that most of the therapy was accomplished by the most low-tech means imaginable, such as computer printouts taped to a wall or beads hung on a string, which she had to focus on in different ways. The book also has an intriguing message about the pliability of the adult brain.
The takeaway for me: the link to the website for doctors who can perform vision therapy.
July 12, 2015
Very interesting subject (neuroscience of vision, brain plasticity). Part popular science review, part memoir. Writer is, of all things, a professor of neurobiology whose own lifelong case of strabismus was, through intensive therapy, corrected in later life, thus enabling her to experience the visual world in three dimensions for the first time ever. Author does a fine job of coveying the profundity of this experience, and of describing the science behind it. I was surprised to learn how divided the scientific and the therapeutic communities are on the prospect of visual/neural improvements in post-early childhood patients. Turns out, there are a great many exceptions that disprove the widely held rule of neuro-implasticity. Less one star for a certain amount of repetitiveness in the writing. Overall, a very fine and interesting read, and an important one for the parents of children with eye disorders.
September 27, 2010
As a Developmental Optometrist, I recommend this book to all my patients. It has a lot to offer those with strabismus as well as those just wanting to learn about the workings of the visual system.
Sue Barry is truly inspiring. Every time I hear her speak, it reminds me why I do what I do, and encourages me to give my best to each and every patient.
Sue Barry is truly inspiring. Every time I hear her speak, it reminds me why I do what I do, and encourages me to give my best to each and every patient.
Want to read
December 22, 2014I WAS strabismic & stereo blind (almost corrected by glasses) as a result of a head injury as a teenager. I went to see an eye surgeon who's patients are overwhelmingly pediatric but who occasionally treats adults who have become so after puberty.
She was able to correct my strabismus surgically. After waking, it was disorienting at first and I experienced some odd visual distortion until my brain learned to interpret this bizarre new capacity to see in 3D. Most obvious was looking at a table's surface while seated and perceiving it as having a profoundly spherical appearance, to the extent that every time I looked down, I needed to confirm it was flat. I cannot express what a huge impact this has had. Over 30 years of stereo blindness cured in hours.
Can't wait to read this book
She was able to correct my strabismus surgically. After waking, it was disorienting at first and I experienced some odd visual distortion until my brain learned to interpret this bizarre new capacity to see in 3D. Most obvious was looking at a table's surface while seated and perceiving it as having a profoundly spherical appearance, to the extent that every time I looked down, I needed to confirm it was flat. I cannot express what a huge impact this has had. Over 30 years of stereo blindness cured in hours.
Can't wait to read this book
March 1, 2018
Having had the condition described in the book since I was an infant, I can attest Barry adroitly describes in detail a number of the wide range of impacts from driving to reading, though seems to intentionally tread lightly through some of the more potentially personally consequential strands. Well-written and hopeful, it does a great job weaving together personal experience, scientific principles, and evolving thought. It’s a very readable length, though with 60 pages of footnotes, it ends faster than I was expecting. Interesting focus on learning and brain development and evolution whether or not you have a connection to the vision issues she describes.
May 10, 2020
An optometrist recommended this book for me to read. As the author notes, visual training is usually in the purview of optometrists and usually not of ophthalmologists.
Susan Barry, as a toddler, had crossed eyes later realigned through surgery. The correction, however, did not give her stereo vision. Not until midlife did she become acquainted with an optometrist who specialized in vision training for persons with mono vision. Barry recounts the experience of learning to see in stereo. It is an interesting and uplifting story.
Susan Barry, as a toddler, had crossed eyes later realigned through surgery. The correction, however, did not give her stereo vision. Not until midlife did she become acquainted with an optometrist who specialized in vision training for persons with mono vision. Barry recounts the experience of learning to see in stereo. It is an interesting and uplifting story.
Want to read
January 6, 2024Got this book recommended to me after expressing interest in getting strabismus surgery done on my left eye. Will be checking it out
February 6, 2022
I've never felt so seen. This book puts into words many aspects of my own visual experience. I started vision therapy in November and this gave me a renewed sense of purpose - the seemingly simple activities I am doing will make a difference.
June 5, 2020
I chose this book because of my daughter. When she turned three, her eyes started wandering. She was diagnosed with amblyopia of her right eye (known as lazy eye). After a few months of patching it turned into alternating esotropia. She had two consecutive surgeries, which made her eyes look more aligned, but not perfect. In spite of a more symmetrical appearance, she still sees with one eye at a time (monocular vision).
I knew that but I had no idea how she really sees the world around her. I noticed when she gives ‘high five’, she misses my palm sometimes. Same with kicking a ball. It looks like she is not sure where the object really is - especially a moving one.
In this book, Susan Barry explained that people with monocular vision don’t have stereopsis - they cannot see in 3D and things seem flat. Susan had it since she was born. But in her early fifties, Susan visited a developmental optometrist hoping to improve her gaze - when she drove or played tennis she switched from one eye to another - that made her world unstable and shaky. She was tired and irritated.
After one year of prescribed eye exercises - for the first time in her life - she saw objects popping out at her. She developed a full stereopsis! One snowy day, she went for a run and lay down under the tree branch just to watch it. She was amazed. As she described, objects - tree leaves and branches - were not flat, but taking their own space. It was unbelievable because most doctors - ophthalmologists mostly - didn’t and still don’t believe this can be done.
This book gives me hope that one day my daughter will be able to see the world with her both eyes too. It will probably make her life richer and bring new experiences and opportunities, and initially - fears. We are so often take it for granted.
I knew that but I had no idea how she really sees the world around her. I noticed when she gives ‘high five’, she misses my palm sometimes. Same with kicking a ball. It looks like she is not sure where the object really is - especially a moving one.
In this book, Susan Barry explained that people with monocular vision don’t have stereopsis - they cannot see in 3D and things seem flat. Susan had it since she was born. But in her early fifties, Susan visited a developmental optometrist hoping to improve her gaze - when she drove or played tennis she switched from one eye to another - that made her world unstable and shaky. She was tired and irritated.
After one year of prescribed eye exercises - for the first time in her life - she saw objects popping out at her. She developed a full stereopsis! One snowy day, she went for a run and lay down under the tree branch just to watch it. She was amazed. As she described, objects - tree leaves and branches - were not flat, but taking their own space. It was unbelievable because most doctors - ophthalmologists mostly - didn’t and still don’t believe this can be done.
This book gives me hope that one day my daughter will be able to see the world with her both eyes too. It will probably make her life richer and bring new experiences and opportunities, and initially - fears. We are so often take it for granted.
September 7, 2015
This is one of those books that's awkward to read in public, but totally worth it. A lot of the nuances of stereo-vision were described not just in words, but with pictures too, which really helped. It meant though that I'd find myself covering one eye, then the other, or moving the book closer and farther from my nose, to really understand the optical illusions the author was describing. It earned me more than a few odd glances at the coffee shop. Although this book is written by a scientist, I don't think it is too scientific. It was as much about understanding what it's like to grow up as a cross-eyed kid as it is about understanding neural plasticity. I'd recommend it to my friends- and not just my PhD scientist friends.
May 6, 2012
Finally--a book from the perspective of someone who has my crossed-eyed troubles and vision limitations. So much of what Barry said about her own experiences resonated with my own life story. From difficulty with sports with moving objects (7th grade tennis class--I'm looking at you) to attempts to make your crossed eyes less noticeable (being photographed from the left is a favorite of mine, though I would prefer to just never be photographed); it's all there.
And yet. The story is really how Barry overcomes her vision problems in her 40s (HER 40s!) by undergoing a type of vision therapy. I can only wish that someday this could be me. I just don't know if it's actually possible.
And yet. The story is really how Barry overcomes her vision problems in her 40s (HER 40s!) by undergoing a type of vision therapy. I can only wish that someday this could be me. I just don't know if it's actually possible.
September 12, 2012
I love this subject matter but could not get through the book. If I did not know she was a professor of neurobiology I would think she had not graduated high school. The writing is absolutely atrocious. Is this the same woman who wrote 50 shades of grey? No more commas for you ever...
Spotted obvious spelling and grammar errors about 5 pages in. Probably a good book but I am offended as a writer.
BTW apparently Princeton is basically a second tier art school.
Spotted obvious spelling and grammar errors about 5 pages in. Probably a good book but I am offended as a writer.
BTW apparently Princeton is basically a second tier art school.
November 13, 2009
I read this book at the recommendation of a doctor so that I could understand what my 9 year old sees and what he will be going through when he starts vision therapy next week. I recommend that teachers read this book so that when they have a student with vision issues they might have some understanding.
October 28, 2013
I wish Barry hadn't written her book with the assumption that the reader has normal stereoscopic vision. Also I felt like the organization of the book is messy. However, as someone going through vision therapy myself, Barry's positive results have me very hopeful. I also enjoyed learning some of the science behind the therapy exercises.
May 9, 2019
As a fellow strabismic and a fan of Oliver Saks, I couldn't resist this book when I found it on the shelf of a vacation rental. I've always known that my vision prevented me from seeing 3D movies and 3D posters but I didn't think I was missing out on much more. Now I'm not only reanalyzing what I do see but psychoanalyzing myself and reconsidering the other possible effects of my vision.
August 22, 2009
Lots of scientific information, but still easy to read and understand. As someone without stereovision, I found this book very interesting. I now wonder if vision therapy could enable me to someday see in three dimensions.
April 29, 2021
4/5. I was recommended this book by a course instructor after finishing a continuing education course on vision therapy. Trained to be a generalist as an OT, vision rehabilitation was not my favorite in school. I knew how to tease out some visual deficits through assessment, but knew few to no actual visual treatment options for it. I began to really understand the depth and importance of it when I began treating patients with acquired brain injury in outpatient. This novel was quick and concise, and gave me some background on common visual deficits I have been noticing in the brain injured. I especially found the history of the Brock String fascinating. I like how it reinforced the principles of neuro plasticity and how nurture and environment plays an important role in rewriting the nervous system vs surgery alone. I recently evaluated a patient post concussion who was born with congenital amblyopia and questioned the ability to rehabilitate what I was seeing such as convergence insufficiency— this story provided reassurance and insight that it is possible no matter the age. My only complaint is the shortness of the novel; I would have loved a longer explanation of her journey through vision therapy and her experience of it all. I also really appreciated the contributions of Oliver Sacks, a favorite neuroscientist and author of mine. Definitely a book I can see myself recommending to others who have visual deficits or are treating those with visual deficits.
December 8, 2023
Fixing your gaze, fixing your beliefs.
Du bist nicht fertig geformt. Das ist wohl die wichtigste Erkenntnis, die sich aus diesem tollen Buch mitnehmen lässt.
Auch, wenn ich mir persönlich einen tieferen Einblick in die Neurobiologie des Phänomens Stereovision (Sehen in 3D) gewünscht hätte, war das Buch sehr interessant und mehr fesselnde Autobiographie. Nichtsdestotrotz konnte man einiges über das Sehen als Prozess lernen und wichtige sonstige Erkenntnisse daraus entnehmen. Der wohl wichtigste Aspekt war dabei "Nature or Nuture", also die Frage, ob wir vollständig geformt sind oder Verhalten wie auch biologische Prozesse anerzogen werden und. Es war unfassbar spannend zu lesen wieso die "kritische Periode" der Formung falsch verstanden wurde ("They mistakenly assume that the "critical period" for the development of amblyopia is the same as the "critical period" for its rehabilitation.). Außerdem werde ich hoffentlich die Sätze "... indicates that the adult nervous system can change its circuitry, but it rewires only in response to behaviorally important stimuli. In contrast, an infant nervous system may change its connections in response to any stimulus as long as it is very strong or repeated sufficiently." nie vergessen.
Du bist nicht fertig geformt. Das ist wohl die wichtigste Erkenntnis, die sich aus diesem tollen Buch mitnehmen lässt.
Auch, wenn ich mir persönlich einen tieferen Einblick in die Neurobiologie des Phänomens Stereovision (Sehen in 3D) gewünscht hätte, war das Buch sehr interessant und mehr fesselnde Autobiographie. Nichtsdestotrotz konnte man einiges über das Sehen als Prozess lernen und wichtige sonstige Erkenntnisse daraus entnehmen. Der wohl wichtigste Aspekt war dabei "Nature or Nuture", also die Frage, ob wir vollständig geformt sind oder Verhalten wie auch biologische Prozesse anerzogen werden und. Es war unfassbar spannend zu lesen wieso die "kritische Periode" der Formung falsch verstanden wurde ("They mistakenly assume that the "critical period" for the development of amblyopia is the same as the "critical period" for its rehabilitation.). Außerdem werde ich hoffentlich die Sätze "... indicates that the adult nervous system can change its circuitry, but it rewires only in response to behaviorally important stimuli. In contrast, an infant nervous system may change its connections in response to any stimulus as long as it is very strong or repeated sufficiently." nie vergessen.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 19, 2018
I picked up this book after having some weird bi-stable perception experiences at the DMV with the stereoscopic vision test that no one else was apparently having. I've always been a bit confused about my vision and was curious to see if this book elucidated anything for me.
The book is an interesting case study with many elements that I enjoyed reading about. I always enjoy learning about the ways that past experiments were incorrectly interpreted that led to some prevailing view in science, which is discussed in regards to plasticity and critical periods of brain development. It was also very interesting to hear about the ways very basic perceptual skills impact much more consequential things - like reading comprehension or how someone "takes in a scene".
I thought that the book was too science light. Towards the end, the author makes some speculations where I felt like there was a lot of science already done that could be brought into the discussion. The actual science that was presented was done decently, but I felt like there were gaps, which could have made the book a lot more complete.
The book is an interesting case study with many elements that I enjoyed reading about. I always enjoy learning about the ways that past experiments were incorrectly interpreted that led to some prevailing view in science, which is discussed in regards to plasticity and critical periods of brain development. It was also very interesting to hear about the ways very basic perceptual skills impact much more consequential things - like reading comprehension or how someone "takes in a scene".
I thought that the book was too science light. Towards the end, the author makes some speculations where I felt like there was a lot of science already done that could be brought into the discussion. The actual science that was presented was done decently, but I felt like there were gaps, which could have made the book a lot more complete.
March 25, 2020
My entire life I felt stupid. I hated reading, my performance in school was average, and my handwriting was poor. My depth perception was lacking, but not to the extent that Barry’s was. I didn’t know that my issues were because of my vision until I was 25. My optometrist recommended this book to better understand my condition and the vision therapy processes. It opened my eyes (no pun intended) to the fact that I’m not stupid and that I don’t have to struggle anymore.
Vision therapy changed my life forever. I first started noticing changes when I looked over my shoulder to back out of a parking space and noticed I could see more off to the side than before. A few weeks later it opened up even more and now hallways looked deeper, there was space between cars on the road instead of looking like a flat photograph. At the end of therapy, I fell in love with books in a way I never knew I could and am now a straight A student.
If you struggle to meet your potential, go see a developmental optometrist and give this book a read. You’ll understand yourself more than ever before.
Vision therapy changed my life forever. I first started noticing changes when I looked over my shoulder to back out of a parking space and noticed I could see more off to the side than before. A few weeks later it opened up even more and now hallways looked deeper, there was space between cars on the road instead of looking like a flat photograph. At the end of therapy, I fell in love with books in a way I never knew I could and am now a straight A student.
If you struggle to meet your potential, go see a developmental optometrist and give this book a read. You’ll understand yourself more than ever before.
January 24, 2021
The book basically has three parts to it. One part is the author's experience with her newly discovered stereovision, one about the optics of her vision therapy, and one part about brain connections.
It was nice to see her fascination with her newly improved vision, and it certainly is something that I had taken for granted.
The part about optics confused me a little and I couldn't understand it. It might be very interesting to someone who is in vision therapy to spend some time on, but I had a hard time visualizing what the author wanted to get across.
But the most fascinating part was about brain connections, especially about the brain not being as "hard-wired" as I thought. The examples of people who changed these wirings at ages fifty and sixty are really inspiring. And she made a point of mentioning how some experts, including ophthalmologists, aren't updated about these findings and sometimes turn patients down, telling them they're deemed to live with certain disabilities. So it opens doors to things that could be addressed in the medical community.
It was nice to see her fascination with her newly improved vision, and it certainly is something that I had taken for granted.
The part about optics confused me a little and I couldn't understand it. It might be very interesting to someone who is in vision therapy to spend some time on, but I had a hard time visualizing what the author wanted to get across.
But the most fascinating part was about brain connections, especially about the brain not being as "hard-wired" as I thought. The examples of people who changed these wirings at ages fifty and sixty are really inspiring. And she made a point of mentioning how some experts, including ophthalmologists, aren't updated about these findings and sometimes turn patients down, telling them they're deemed to live with certain disabilities. So it opens doors to things that could be addressed in the medical community.
October 31, 2020
Excellent book. It's geared more towards those with strabismus, but those with amblyopia such as myself could still get some good information from it. The Brock string therapy for example is useful for people with both afflictions, and there are some other ideas as well. I bought this book three years ago when I first got glasses, but it sat on a shelf. The optician recommended it to me. But at the time, he only gave me a balance lens for my amblyopic eye, leaving it as useless as without glasses. Now four years and three prescriptions later, the latest optician suggested giving me a lens that will attempt to get my amblyopic eye some usefulness. The new prescription gave me a glimmer of what stereoscopy is like. I then decided to get this book off the shelf and read it. Now that I finished, I have some ideas and resources that I could use to possibly gain proper stereo vision.
September 7, 2022
The depth this book goes to is probably revelatory for people with the conditions that she is talking about. For everyone else, I think it's probably too long - and she's a professor of neuroscience, so the parts that are discussing the biology of her condition slip farther and farther into impenetrable college text as the book goes on.
Also, she mentions several times that as she began to see in stereo, she couldn't tell her coworkers what she was experiencing, despite being clearly able to articulate it, often quite elegantly, in the book. It made me SO SAD for her to think she was living through this incredible epiphany in real time and was surrounded by people who didn't care how she saw the world. And since I just reminded myself she's a professor of neuroscience, it just clicked for me that her coworkers were probably all men, and that is why we need women in science. I legitimately didn't mean for this review to become a diatribe about equality but ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME.
Also, she mentions several times that as she began to see in stereo, she couldn't tell her coworkers what she was experiencing, despite being clearly able to articulate it, often quite elegantly, in the book. It made me SO SAD for her to think she was living through this incredible epiphany in real time and was surrounded by people who didn't care how she saw the world. And since I just reminded myself she's a professor of neuroscience, it just clicked for me that her coworkers were probably all men, and that is why we need women in science. I legitimately didn't mean for this review to become a diatribe about equality but ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME.
August 25, 2025
A couple of my professors in optometry school have recommended this book, and as I have worked in vision therapy for a couple years and am now in my official VT clinic rotation in school, I wanted to learn more about this from the perspective of a patient.
The book a good overview and some touching personal examples. It raised much more questions for me than answers, but that’s largely because I’m still in the middle of learning the vision science behind it all. I used this primarily as an unofficial supplemental reading for class, taking notes and writing questions as I went.
It got me thinking about my own experience as a moderately high intermittent alternating exotrope, and how lucky I am to have the positive fusional vergence ranges to be able to overcome my deviation most of the time.
The book a good overview and some touching personal examples. It raised much more questions for me than answers, but that’s largely because I’m still in the middle of learning the vision science behind it all. I used this primarily as an unofficial supplemental reading for class, taking notes and writing questions as I went.
It got me thinking about my own experience as a moderately high intermittent alternating exotrope, and how lucky I am to have the positive fusional vergence ranges to be able to overcome my deviation most of the time.
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