Anyone with a 'lazy eye'?

[Rustysmom]

Both of my eyes turn out (not at the same time, both can do it at different times) especially when I'm tired or not paying attention, but I can turn 'em back straight ahead and if you saw me you probably couldn't tell unless you caught it wandering. I am able to see 3D. What I can't really do well is drive a car, or at least that's the way that I feel because I think my depth perception is off.

 

[Plantlady]

I think this is an interesting subject matter.

I have a crossed eye, and typically cannot see 3D images at all. The crazy photos.. where you stare DEEP inside of them to see dinosaurs, or something, I never saw a thing. The red/blue glasses , do nothing for me. Spykids 3D was a headache for me.

So, I didn't have my hopes high for the Disney 3D movies.

BUT, I saw them. I saw the 3D action, and it was so freakin' cool! Beyond the fact that I think the technology is interesting, it was the fact, that never before in my life, had I experienced 3D.

So, to some out there, who can't see 3D, you might very well be able to enjoy the movies at Disney.

 

[Donnainnj]

I have a lazy eye (legally blind in that eye, not correctable) due to an enlarged pupil I was born with. I see at least some of the 3-d at Disney, don't know what others see, but i'm impressed. Spy Kids did bother me a bit, and I saw Meet the Robinsons Yesterday and saw some of the effects, and it didn't bother me. It's funny, I really didn't expect to see much at Disney, but was pleasantly surprised. Each time they open a new 3-d attraction it gets even better. I can't see most of the "stare at it untill you see the picture" photos either. With all they can do with medicine now I always wonder if they will come up with something for this problem.
Donna

 

[duffy]

My oldest daughter has a lazy eye. She also wore an eye patch for months, but it didn't really help. Eye exercises, special glasses, the works, but it was mostly a waste of time. To this day, she has bad depth perception, and anything 3-D is wasted on her.

She was only about 10 years old when she wore the patch and got tired of people always asking her why she had to wear it-I think a lot of them thought she had an accident. She sometimes told them, "I sneezed so hard, my eye popped out!"

Quite a few people were shocked and horrified until she would laugh and tell them the truth.

 

[PaulaSB12]

With so many attractions in Orlando utilising 3-D glasses to create the experience is there anyone on this board with a lazy eye, e.g. due to a squint, who isn't able to appreciate the 3-D effects created? And if so does it bother you that other guests are able to experience something you physically can't see?

I'm an optometrist so this kind of thing interests me (in a sad way )

Here is my eyesight for you. I had squints in both eyes when I was small, so now my left eye is long sighted because it is my lazy eye and I am short sighted in my right eye. When I was 16 my optometrist told me and my mother that I was born without binocular vision (I have always refused to allow opticians to give me glasses with both lenses, they have tried to give me them to "force" my eyes to work together.) Obviously my mind has compensated because when I go to the disney 3d shows I can see some of it but can't see any of the 3d shows with the green and red lenses.

 

[DNSDisney]

My DD and I both are dyslexic and the 3D glasses give us a terrible headache, but we don't need them to see the 3D effects for some reason.
We see the 3D effects without the glasses..... something to do with our eye and audio nerves from my understanding, we are wired differently. Weird but true.

 

[ottawamom]

Jann,

Some of the confusion may be due to the fact that strabismus (crossed eye or turned eye) can cause amblyopia (lazy eye). Amblyopia can result from a constant unilateral strabismus.

Interesting to know, for years my son has been treated for this condition (stabismus). I never asked the doctor specific questions re the Amblyopia but his corrective lenses have two very different prescriptions, so I guess he has both. Originally (at age 3) the doctor was making all possible attempts to get his two eyes to the same focal length. After a certain age (5 or 6) I think he said that was as good as his eyes would get.

I asked him again, and he has once again assured me he does see the images coming out of the screen, not as blurry images. I guess he's one of the lucky ones.

 

[Mecha Figment]

I have Dwaynes syndrom and I never have had any problems. grant it it's a little different. But 3D has never seemed as clear to me since i started wearing glasses.

 

[storzo]

My DS has a lazy eye and wears corrective lenses. He puts the 3D glasses over his corrective glasses and has no problem seeing the show.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

I always thought i had a lazy eye, but maybe I was misdiagnosed as a child. I am 35.

As a child I always closed my right eye due to a muscle in my eyelid not working. When i was concious of it, it stayed open, but if i was tired, i closed it. I had corrective cosmetic surgery when i was in high school. They cut some of the skin off so that even though the muscle wasn't working, it would at least look like it was.

As far as my right eye . Because my eyelid was shut most of the time, it did drift, especially when i was tired. It's not really noticeable now unless I am tired. At my last eye appointment, my doctor prescribed me a special lens (prism?) which brings my eye to the center. I hate wearing glasses because the right side lens is noticeably thicker than the left .

As far as watching 3 D, i have never had a problem, but then agian, i may not be seeing it the way everyone else is.

 

[TiggerStac]

To the OP - Thank you for posting this!! I am sorry some misintrepreted you so quickly; I think what you ask is a very interesting question!

I have lazy eye - I was the "eye patch" kid when I was little, as I had to wear one over my good eye for a few hours a day for years. It didn't work! My eyes never became anything close to equal. So I have glasses now with different perscriptions for each side, but I usually only wear them to drive. And usually I can see just fine, which is great, seeing where I started as a kid!

BUT - I can't see the 3D effects (and I did put the 3D glasses on!)! I never understood why I wasn't seeing anything cool! I see everyone else reaching for Donald at Philharmagic, while I just see Donald with a slight double-image blur around him. I thought everyone saw it that way, until I realized I just wasn't seeing the 3D right! I tried with and without my real glasses with the 3D ones over them, and it made no difference whatsoever - I couldn't see most of the effects!

But occassionally I can see a stray effect or two - when Ariel reaches out in Philharmagic, I can see that one OK. And at Universal, I remember at Terminiator 3D I was amazed I could see most effects!

But overall, everything is just a double image blur, but of course I still go to these shows, since there is plenty to enjoy! But I find it interesting to know I am not the only one who can't see 3D.

This post interested me as we are heading to a pediatric opthamologist in a few weeks for my 2 month old. They believe he has a lazy eye. I have read about the patch and drop treatments mentioned. The pedi did ask me if I had a lazy eye and there is nothing that I was ever diagnosed w/. I do wear glasses and have astigmatism in both eyes..never knew I had on e in my right eye until last year when I had a different type of test done, but I always knew I had one in the left eye. Mind you..my sight isn't bad at all. I can see w/out glasses ok, but much better with them (plus, no headaches). The way that you describe how you saw philarmagic is exactly how I see them. I have tried w/my glasses and the glasses, w/just the 3d glasses. I can see the 3d and kermit (at the end on the firetruck) in muppet 3d.

 

[ktglads]

Another with a lazy eye that can't see 3D. I didn't get the eyepatch as a kid, but rather had to put tape on my glasses to make it so my one eye would have to work instead of making my other eye do everything. There are times I can actually see the gaps in between the two images that are being displayed on the screen. I still go to the shows, though since they are entertaining in and of themselves

 

[Rustysmom]

I always thought i had a lazy eye, but maybe I was misdiagnosed as a child. I am 35.

As a child I always closed my right eye due to a muscle in my eyelid not working. When i was concious of it, it stayed open, but if i was tired, i closed it. I had corrective cosmetic surgery when i was in high school. They cut some of the skin off so that even though the muscle wasn't working, it would at least look like it was.

As far as my right eye . Because my eyelid was shut most of the time, it did drift, especially when i was tired. It's not really noticeable now unless I am tired. At my last eye appointment, my doctor prescribed me a special lens (prism?) which brings my eye to the center. I hate wearing glasses because the right side lens is noticeably thicker than the left .

As far as watching 3 D, i have never had a problem, but then agian, i may not be seeing it the way everyone else is.

Do they really have prisms that can help this? I never let my eye doctor "catch" my eye drifting off because when I was a kid, they wanted to operate and I was terrified at the thought. They told my mom to make me come in for all kinds of tests, and I made sure my eyes stayed straight ahead and they thought it was ok then. Now I'm kind of sorry that I didn't have surgery, because sometimes I get tired of having to concentrate on where my eyes are. It would be cool if they had a prism that would kind of force my eye to face where it's supposed to be looking.

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

Rustysmom, I am going to PM you.

 

[daisax]

I had lazy eye as a kid, had it corrected surgically, and I see 3D fine. Don't have binocular vision and can't see those eye test charts where you look into the microscope thingie and have to tell them where the red ball/apple thing is in the picture.

But 3D movies, no problem.

Interesting that there's such a spectrum out there!

I'd encourage those worried about the surgery to ask around - I was at dinner a couple of weeks ago and 3 out of the 6 people there had had the surgery when we were kids, and everything went fine. And I was the youngest at 43, so those were certainly the dark ages as far as surgery is concerned!

 

[Mikey_B]

Do they really have prisms that can help this? I never let my eye doctor "catch" my eye drifting off because when I was a kid, they wanted to operate and I was terrified at the thought. They told my mom to make me come in for all kinds of tests, and I made sure my eyes stayed straight ahead and they thought it was ok then. Now I'm kind of sorry that I didn't have surgery, because sometimes I get tired of having to concentrate on where my eyes are. It would be cool if they had a prism that would kind of force my eye to face where it's supposed to be looking.

You have to be careful operating on squints in adulthood as your visual system has adapted to the muscle misalignment by effectively ignoring the image being recieved by the deviating eye. These sensory adaptations are 'hard-wired' and changing the alignment of your eyes can sometimes upset things. If the vision is reduced in this eye there is not much hope of restoring it at in adulthood, and there is a risk that aligning the eyes with surgery will induce double vision.

Prismatic correction is an option, prism lenses do not make your eyes move back inwards, but deviate the image through the lenses to compensate for misalignments between the two eyes. Prisms essentially reduce the strain on weakened eye muscles. I prescribe prisms if a patient has symptoms, e.g. double vision, eye strain, blurred vision etc, and if these symptoms are caused by an eye muscle problem. In younger patients exercises are often tried and if the patient is compliant this can greatly reduce the need for glasses later in life. If you have an intermittent deviation, which it sounds like you do, prisms can certainly help when you're tired and can provide relief from symptoms caused by your deviating eye.

If amblyopia is picked up early (preferably before the age of 4) it is treated with a combination of glasses and/or surgery (if required) and patching of the 'good' eye. If treatment is started early good binocular function is possible, which explains why many of you with lazy eyes can experience some level of 3-D vision.

It's interesting to hear your opinions and experiences, thanks to anyone who's contributed to this thread.