One of the issues I've been struggling with recently is the fact that my eyes seem to not be looking straight anymore. The loss of my central vision is causing me to use my peripheral vision and as a result my iris seems to be looking in the direction slightly left or right of the object I would be look at.
This is causing some inconvenineces especially when talking to people. It used to be that I can get away with not telling people about my vision considition. But now its gotten worst, it's sometimes hard to "act normal".
I considered surgery, that is until I found out that its not my muscle that is causing the problem, its simply the fact that I cannot see in the central part of my vision. It was until recently, when I went into the eye doctors that I realized how off my eye is. I didn't reazlie I had lost most of the central vision since everytime i look straigh my eyes jsut automatically adjust and focus. It wasn't until I was doing an eye exam that when they told me to stare at the dot in the middle of the circle that I realized when they asked me to look straight, I moved my eyes around and eventually hitting the blindspot where its in the centre yet I can't see the dot anymore.
I'm not sure if this is omething I simply have to deal with or if there's a way of adapting and working around the situation. A friend suggested focusing on the blind spot and you will know you are looking straight. However, I am having trouble since my vision naturally shifts to focus and see. I'd love to hear others ideas of ways you have learned to overcome this challenge.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
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I have a similar issue. Though I still have central vision, my peripheral, like yours, is better. I have to concentrate on looking directly at the faces of folks with whom I am talking. In general, I always find my eyes moving around. I used to think that I had some kind of attention deficit. Fortunately, I realized that is was my natural adaptation to using my peripheral vision to see.
ReplyDeleteI've got Stargardt's too and I often find myself pretending to look at people when talking to them without really seeing them just to make them comfortable. Also, while thinking/daydreaming, I find myself not focusing on anything with my eyes and I'm letting the blurry center take over.
ReplyDeleteIn the classroom, this means that I tend to sit farther back so that I don't have to obsess about appearing interested. In the front row, I feel like I have to look at the prof and making frequent eye contact whether I really see anything. I rely on my aural note taking and the person who I've asked to jot down all slide notes that I can't see.
Thanks for your thoughts and this blog - it's nice to relate.
Hi! I also have stargardt's and have lived with it for about 15 years. I tend to look above the object i am trying to look at. Some people always ask "why are you looking at my hair?" or "is there something on my forehead?" I try and pretend to make eye contact by staring at the persons face but of course there is just a big blur. Sometimes this works...or i think it works and the other person just feels weird that keep looking at their forehead. Thanks for the blog!
ReplyDeletehi! i have the same problem too, i realized that this happens everytime i play small screened computer or cellphone games, and usually if this happens i must focus on the persons face and to be attentive to what the person is saying, but sometimes my mind automatically thinks of other things then i lost focus again. thanks for the blog atleast i know im not alone
ReplyDeleteMine does something like that but not with people. I have glow in the dark stars on my ceiling and I can't look straight at them at see it. I have to loom around it and use my peripheral. It does it with real stars too. It only does it with small objects and I have no idea what it is.
ReplyDeleteLIfe is really depressing sometimes when you can't even look someone straight in the eyes. Confidence is lost and any possitive thinking parrish aswell with time to time. I think the only thing that keeps me going is knowing there is others just like me also facing this problem on a daily basis. There might never be a cure, although,it still better of than having no sight at all, isnt it? And that is why there is blogs, for people like us. The keyboard doesnt care if you dont look straight at it:)
ReplyDelete