Stereo vision (depth perception) in preschool children - what if my child can't see 3D?

One of the easiest ways to diagnose a vision disorder in a very young child is to test his or her stereo acuity or depth perception.  Poor 3D vision is often caused by a vision disorder, some of which may be serious disorders that are best treated in early childhood.  Poor 3D vision may even be the sing of life threatening diseases such as tumours, as in this famous story from Ontario.

A new study published in the journal Optometry & Vision Science examined the a large population of pre-school children and tested their depth perception using the Stereo Smile II test.  The researchers then looked at the association of poor 3D vision with vision disorders.

The study found that children with vision disorders had significantly worse median stereoacuity than that of children without vision disorders. Children with the most severe vision disorders had worse stereoacuity than that of children with milder disorders.

The researchers also found that testability was excellent at all ages of the children included in the study. The results support the validity of the Stereo Smile II for assessing random-dot stereoacuity in preschool children.  The results also point to the need to take children who have poor stereo vision to a developmental optometrist to be evaluated and treated for developmental vision disorders that may be the cause of the poor stereo vision.

For more information visit our 3D vision web page at http://www.visiontherapy.ca/3dmediaandvision.html

Stereo vision, vision therapy and the TED talks

Stereo vision and treatment of depth perception problems with optometric vision therapy has been the subject of TED talk featuring neuroscientist Dr. Susan Barry:

Related articles on children and depth perception

What is 3D Vision Syndrome? 

Don't like 3D movies? You may have 3D Vision Syndrome

Take your kids to see "Thor": doctor's orders!

Life threatening disease found in girls eye - lack of 3D vision was the clue

Fixing My Gaze - Can you imagine not having 3D vision?

TED - ideas worth spreading - Susan Barry on how vision therapy gave her 3D vision

Source

Stereoacuity and Vision Disorders in Preschool Children
Optom Vis Sci 2014 Jan 23;[EPub Ahead of Print], EB Ciner, G-S Ying, MT Kulp, MG Maguire, GE Quinn, E Graham, D Orel-Bixler, LA Cyert, B Moore, J Huang

3D movies, depth perception, stereopsis and binocular vision disorders

At the end of this post is an excellent movie about 3D Vision Syndrome, an eye movement disorder that prevents people from seeing in three dimensions normally.  3D vision is called "stereopsis" and people who can't see in 3D are called "stereoblind".

If you or your child don't experience 3D movies they way other people do, you may have a binocular vision disorder that needs to be treated with vision therapy.

Here are some previous articles we have written on 3D vision and depth perception:

What is 3D Vision Syndrome? 

Don't like 3D movies? You may have 3D Vision Syndrome

Take your kids to see "Thor": doctor's orders!

Life threatening disease found in girls eye - lack of 3D vision was the clue

Fixing My Gaze - Can you imagine not having 3D vision?

TED - ideas worth spreading - Susan Barry on how vision therapy gave her 3D vision

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading: Dr. Susan Barry on how vision therapy cured stereoblindess

Neuroscientist, Dr. Susan Barry, gave a TED talk on how optometric vision therapy allowed her to see in three dimensions for the first time at the age of 48.  Until then, she was stereo-blind, meaning that she could not see the world in 3D like people with normal vision.  Stereo-blindness is also called stereopsis.


TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading".

Dr. Barry's story is now fairly well known.  Her 2009 book, Fixing My Gaze was Amazon.com's number 4 most popular science book of the year.  Her story was also the subject of an article in the New Yorker by famous scientist Oliver Sacks (who was played by Robin Williams in the film Awakenings).  


In this talk, Dr. Barry discusses the notion of the "critical period", a long-held belief among neuro-scientists which is being dis-proven by Sue Barry's story as well as current research.  Until very recently, it was thought that there was a critical period in human brain development beyond which the brain was "set in stone" and could not change.  The implication of this belief was that people with disorders like stereo-blindness or amblyopia that originate in the brain could not be cured beyond the age of 5 or 6.


Scientists now accept that the brain displays considerable neuroplasticity and that even the brains of adults can be trained to see normally.  In addition to conditions such as stereo-blindness, this has important implications for other brain-eye disorders such as strabismus, amblyopia and visual information processing disorders.  


Neuroplasticity is actually a prime reason for the success of vision therapy in treating these disorders.  As developmental optometrists will often say, vision therapy is like physical therapy for the eyes and brain.


More people that ever before are discovering that they are stereo-blind.  With the explosion of 3D entertainment, some parents are noticing that their children do not experience 3D media the way that normal-seeing people experience it.  This is often a red flag that prompts the parents to take their child to the optometrist for an eye examination.  Fortunately, as Susan Barry's story demonstrates, we can successfully treat people who are stereo-blind.


Click here to learn more about 3D vision and stereo-blindness.