Ординатура / Офтальмология / Английские материалы / Relearning To See_Quackenbush_2000

R E L E A R N I N G T O S E E

more or less, although she wore glasses prescribed by a very prominent eye doctor, never gave her the relief that she now obtained without glasses, by reading the Snellen Card daily.

By teaching her students in the same way, she was very much pleased to note also that they were brighter and had better memories, and studied for longer periods without becoming tired or restless. Her attendance was better than it had ever been in any one month before.

One little boy told her that he no longer had headaches from studying his lessons, and that he could read what was written on the blackboard without half trying.

Other teachers became interested and they obtained the same beneficial results.

From Better Eyesight magazine, September

1924:

THE FAIRY SCHOOL

By George Guild

It was very hot. The school windows were wide open, but not a breath of air was stirring and the teacher and students were very uncomfortable from the heat. Freddie was only eight years old and he could not be blamed when his mind wandered from his work. In spite of all that he could do, his head would nod, his eyes would close and he would drop off to sleep. Then he heard the White Fairy talking to the children while she sat on the teacher's desk, waving her hands and dancing around to the amusement of the children. Her eyes were so bright and full of sympathy, kindness and love that not one of the boys or girls could keep their eyes from her face. She said:

"Now watch me as I swing from side to side. Please, all of you stand up, with your feet slightly apart, facing me, and move your whole body, your head and your eyes

from side to side while I am moving. "Now sit down, close your eyes, and cover

them with the palms of your hands, resting your elbows on your desk. While you are doing this remember me standing up, smiling at you and loving you with all my heart." In five minutes she said: "Now open your eyes and watch me while I dance."

Freddie noticed how much more distinctly he could now see the face of the White Fairy.

Then all of a sudden the White Fairy stopped dancing. At first, the smiling eyes were very clear, but in a few seconds or so they began to blur and fade away. It was not long before he was unable to see her face or her tiny feet; they had become just a blur. He felt uncomfortable, and he must have looked uncomfortable because the White Fairy called out: "Freddie, swing your head from side to side." Freddie was only too glad to swing from side to side, and it was not long before he became able to see her tiny feet, her eyes and face just as clearly as before.

Then the White Fairy said: "Now, Freddie, close your eyes and remember me as well as you can. If you love me you will remember me."

And Freddie closed his eyes, and I am quite sure that he remembered the face of the White Fairy, because he loved her so much. After he had kept his eyes closed for a few minutes the White Fairy called out:

"Open your eyes and tell me what you see." And when Freddie opened his eyes the schoolroom was gone. It seemed as though he was in the woods; it seemed as though he was a fairy also and that all the other children were fairies, and he enjoyed being a fairy because when he imitated the look of love on the face of the White Fairy he thought of his mother and his father, his brothers and his sisters and other people

that he could remember. He seemed to love all of them a great deal more than he had ever loved anybody in his life. The White Fairy invited him to dance with her. It was very strange to Freddie that he could dance for a long time without getting tired, and the more he danced the better did he feel. Then the White Fairy told him to stop dancing, and while he sat on the grass she walked around him, touching his head with the tips of her fingers until he fell asleep. When he woke up the teacher was petting his head and loving him. At once he called out: "Oh, teacher, the White Fairy taught me to dance, how to see, and now I feel just like studying." When the teacher heard him say this she said:

"Freddie, 1 am curious. Show me what the White Fairy helped you to do." And so, before the whole school Freddie showed how the White Fairy taught him to swing, shift and palm, and how she showed him how staring and straining made his sight worse and that by moving his head and eyes from side to side his sight got better. Right away the children all did it, and after they had practiced with Freddie for a short time they were all very happy and told the teacher that they also felt a great deal better, and, like Freddie, they wanted to get to work because they felt just like studying.

From Better Eyesight magazine, June 1925:

THE SAND MAN

By George M. Guild

The little boy sat on the lap of his mother in a rocking chair. His name was Freddie. He had had a long day and was very, very tired. His mother rocked him back and forth, petted him with her cool hands and quieted him with her frequent kisses. He kept telling her "Oh, mother, my eyes hurt, my head hurts, my arms hurt, my feet hurt,

I am all hurt, and I am all tired out." While she rocked him back and forth, a

little old man came into the room with a bag of sand over his shoulder—the Sand Man. Freddie did not see him coming and Freddie's mother did not see him coming, but when he threw a little sand into their eyes they both became very sleepy. Freddie sat up and looked around, stretched his arms, and his big tortoise-shell glasses fell from his eyes onto the floor. Freddie jumped down to get his glasses, and then he saw the Sand Man pick them up from the floor and hold them behind his back where Freddie could not get them. Freddie was very indignant and scolded the Sand Man for taking his glasses, but the little old man smiled and said: "Do they help you to see?"

Freddie answered: "No, my eyes feel all right until I put them on in the morning, and then things are blurred, and my eyes begin to pain; but the Doctor said that if I did not wear them all the time, I would most surely go blind."

The Sand Man said to him: "Would you like to go with me and talk it over with the fairies? They don't like to see little boys wearing glasses."

So the little boy took the hand of the Sand Man and they ran, skipping and jumping around, out of the room, into the hall, down the stairs, out the front door, through the front gate, and then into the woods. There the moon was shining very brightly through the trees and lighted up a space where thousands of fairies were dancing, laughing, and joking and having a good time. Freddie was so glad to see the fairies, because in his heart he knew there were fairies, but all his uncles and aunts and cousins and grown people generally laughed at him and made fun of him for believing in fairies. When the fairies saw

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him coming, they all ran to him and climbed up on his shoulders and the top of his head, sat on his ears, tickled him under the chin, and made him laugh, and he had a good time from the very start.

The fairies had some difficulty in teaching him how to dance their way, but they finally got him to go through movements of various kinds. The one he liked best of all was to turn his head, eyes, and his whole body as far to the right and to the left as he possibly could without trying to see the things in front of him, which move in the opposite direction. He never heard fairies sing, but he heard them now and he liked the sound of their voices. He tried to sing with them, but he did so poorly and his voice was so harsh that he could not keep on singing. But the fairies encouraged him, and told him how to hold his lips and his tongue, and how to breathe, and very soon he was singing just as loud and just as musically as the rest of them. This was very strange, indeed, because he sang songs that he had never heard before, that is, consciously. Of course, when he was asleep, he would dream, perhaps, of the fairies singing, but when he woke up in the morning the dreams of the fairies, like all other dreams, were usually soon forgotten.

What surprised him most of all was the fact that his eyes did not bother him. He was no longer sleepy, no longer tired; every nerve in his body was just as happy as he was. There was no pain, only a feeling of delicious joyousness that no words could describe. Not only were his eyes comfortable, free from pain and fatigue, but he was able to see the fairies, the trees, the flowers, the birds, and the toadstools where the fairies sat to rest. It seemed to him that he could see through the trees, that he could see through the ground down into the other side of the Earth where China was. He felt

as though he could see the Chinese fairies almost as well as he could see the fairies that surrounded him. His eyes never kept still, they were moving in all directions, and the more they moved the better they felt. When his eyes moved in one direction, it seemed as though his hands and feet moved in the other direction, but one could not catch the other. The movement of his eyes was all the time missing the movement of his toes. They seemed like two railroad trains on parallel tracks, which pass each other going in the opposite direction at full speed. He noticed that the fairies were moving in the same direction that his body was moving; the Sand Man, the trees, the grass, everything was moving with his body, opposite to the movement of his eyes. It seemed a very strange thing to him. The strangest thing about it was that for the first time in his life he felt his eyes were rested, although they were moving, and that for the first time in his life also, his body, and his nerves were at rest although they were, as he thought or imagined, constantly moving.

The next morning when his mother came to awaken him, she found him looking over toward the trees and smiling. Every once in a while he would laugh out loud, as loud as he could scream. His mother was worried and she said to him: "What is the trouble; why are you up so early? Why are you laughing, and why do you look over toward the trees?"

Then he told her what had happened to him on the previous night when the Sand Man took him over to see the fairies. She smiled indulgently, as mothers will, but the next question she asked him was the most important one of all: "Where are your glasses?"

Freddie looked up into the face of his mother, who leaned over and kissed him. He threw his arms around her and pressed

his cheek against hers and said: "Mother, please forgive me. The Sand Man took them. The fairies told me how to see perfectly without glasses, so that I would have no pain and would never get tired. I want to get up early in the morning every morning and go over into the woods and play; play where the fairies played, where the fairies eliminated my poor sight."

From Better Eyesight magazine, December

1928:

PANSY LAND

By Emily C. Lierman

Once upon a time in a town near the Pacific Coast there lived a boy named George who suffered intensely from poor eyesight. One day he met a girl named Christine. The little boy had heard that Christine knew the great secret of good eyesight and begged her to tell him what he could do to improve his eyes. It did not take Christine long to teach George how to use his eyes right and keep from straining them. Christine soon found that George was not lonely like she was, for one day he brought Amy with him, the girl who made many children happy with her stories. She was beautiful to look at and had many friends. George and Amy were constant pals, and helped to make Christine happy. Amy's eyes also became wonderfully bright through Christine's guidance and help, and everyone in Pansy Land wanted to know how this came about.

One day these three friends of Better Eyesight took a trip to the land of pansies. Before they were allowed to enter the gate, they had to seek admission from the doorkeeper. They waited until he went to see whether or not the pansies had gone to bed, as it was near closing time. He soon came back to them and told them to enter,

that the pansies still had their eyes open and would welcome them. They walked a great distance and found that with the exception of narrow paths, everything was covered with miles and miles of pansies. There were yellow pansies with eyes as blue as the skies, brown and tan pansies with rose-colored eyes, and others dressed in all the colors of the rainbow. All of them were swaying with the gentle breeze and they were most beautiful to see.

Suddenly, a jolly gnome appeared before them. They noticed that his eyes were shining brightly and that he had the kindliest face of anybody they had ever seen. George knew him right away. He said, "This is Horatio the Great. It is he who first discovered how to improve people's sight without glasses and help those who had pain and other troubles with their eyes." George also remarked that he had the biggest heart that anybody ever had, and was the best friend of poor children all over the world. Horatio the Great stood by listening to these kind remarks but was too modest to make any reply. He just listened.

After George got through talking, the kindly gnome invited them to sit in his parlor, which was made of the loveliest pink mushrooms imaginable. He told them to place their palms over their eyes and not to mink of anything bad or wrong and then to make a wish. They wished that they could be two very little girls and a very little boy again.

All of a sudden, there was a rumbling sound like thunder, and George, Amy, and Christine became very much frightened. The good gnome knew what had happened. He said, "Take down your hands and let me see how badly you have been frightened, when there was nothing at all to be frightened about." He looked into their eyes and said, "Because you were

R E L E A R N I N G T O S E E

frightened, you began to strain and your eyesight is now poor. You must be calm like I am, no matter how much trouble or worry you might have or how frightened you become. Don't you know that fear always affects good eyes and makes them poor?"

He then told them again to cover their eyes with the palms of their hands and he would tell them what caused their fright. He said, "You know I have many helpers in Pansy Land; some of them are my good gnomes. It was the good gnomes that you heard when they returned to their places on the roof of my palace. Don't be alarmed."

After this remark, there was no more fear and no more eyestrain. He then told them to remove their hands from their eyes. When they opened their eyes again he held in his hand a shining light, which was really a star on the end of a wand. With this he touched their eyelids and they were little children again.

When he touched the lonely little girl he said, "Now your name is Crystal, because you will always have crystal clear eyes You will improve the sight of children and grown-ups all over the world in time to come. You are ordered to finish your work here on the West Coast of this great big world where many people want you. You must be strong in your mind and heart and know that when your enemies want to hurt you, the good gnome, Horatio the Great, will always be standing by you and will keep you from harm. You must never be afraid."

Amy and George stood by listening with their eyes wide open, but blinking all the time to be sure that they would not strain and displease Horatio the Great.

The good gnome then touched little Amy with the shining star and said, "You will do greater things than you have ever done,

now that you have better eyesight and no longer need glasses. You will go to many boys and girls and you will take away all pain and sorrow from those who suffer with eye trouble. Sometimes you will go alone, but most of the time little Georgie will take you in his chariot so that you will not be weary in well-doing." This pleased little Georgie because he did not ever want to be separated from Amy, who had always made happiness and joy for him. Little Crystal knew in her heart how much they loved each other and this made her very happy.

The kindly gnome, Horatio the Great, then placed his wand with the shining star on the head of little George and said, "My book, which tells you how to take care of people's eyes, will help you to understand the work that you have to do. What you must enjoy is helping people with eyestrain. I give you my special blessing because of the good work you have already done. You will take Crystal and Amy to your beautiful home in Marston Hills."

This made Georgie very happy. His beautiful home has a frog pond in a lovely garden. In the pond lives one large frog. He has many friends who live near him all the time. Their names are Climbing Rose, American Beauty, Geranium, Calla Lily, Honey Suckle, and many others that would take much time to name.

This kindly frog is never thirsty and is ever ready to share with you the sparkling water that flows from his mouth. Even the frog has his work to do. In the pond directly under the throne on which the frog sits during the day, there lives a family by the name of Goldfish. Not so long ago the family increased in great numbers. They are lively and hungry all the time, and Amy and George always feed them. All of the goldfish have perfect eyesight.The frog will tell

you that at no time is eyestrain allowed in his kingdom. He has for his kindly assistant Mary, who looks after things not only in the garden, but in the house that George built.

Horatio the Great led the procession to a little woodland which belonged to the pansies. Little Crystal noticed that a beautiful palm had been crushed on one side and many leaves were scattered on the grassy carpet. The two little girls and the little boy closed their eyes while the gnome told them the story of the crushed palm, and what had happened on that day. He told how the Queen of the Fairies had been honored by all the fairies of Pansy Land. No disorder is ever allowed, because it causes much work and strain to those who are the care-takers, but on this special occasion when the Queen of the Fairies that live all over the world had been given a reception, he made excuses for the fairies because of the disorder of the place.

From there he led them away to the center of the pansy bed that had the most colors. He told them to palm again and remember the color of any pansy they saw. While their eyes were closed and covered, the good gnome passed his wand with the shining star over the heads of the pansies.

When Crystal, Amy and Georgie opened their eyes, lo and behold, there was a beautiful fairy on the top of every pansy, right before their eyes. What a beautiful sight it was and how happy these children were. The sun never shone more brightly; never in their lives did they smell more wonderful perfume. Immediately there was a beautiful fairy dance and the more the children blinked, the more wonderful the fairies danced.

All good things must come to an end, for a little time at least, and soon the kindly gnome remarked that it was bed time for the fairies and the pansies. Horatio the Great, with his kindly manner, led the way to the gate and gently bowed before the two little girls and the little boy, who honored him with their smiles and good wishes and said good bye for a while.

Georgie remembered what he had promised the gnome, and placing little Amy and Crystal in his chariot, drove on to his home in the hills to the frog pond and the flowers.

Because of their happiness, the good gnome did not wish to change them into grown-ups again, so they will always be children and live happily ever after.

A

.Accommodation

Bates' view ot 44,65-77, 9°> 99

defined, 43

Helmholtz leas theory of, 50-51,56 judging distance by, 269

lensless. 53-56,83

by oblique muscles, 44,56,58,65-76,9° orthodox view of, 41-45,5°~5^ 56

orthodox view of, problems with, 45,51-56

Tscherning's theory of, 50

Activities

abdominal breathing, 194-95, Plate 13 for amblyopia, 290-92

centralizing, 157,159-66,167-68

Cross-Crawl, 319-20

double oppositional movement, 128

Infinity (Figure-8) Swing, 125-27,305

Long (Elephant) Swing, 121-23,124,127,130,300,

305

Near-to-Far/Far-to-Near Swing, 129-30 object shifting, 117

oppositional movement with a pencil, 118 palming. 349-55

Pebble Game, 160-64

for strabismus, 297-99

swaying, 118-20,127,396

Variable Swing, 117

Window (Gate) Swing, 168

Acupressure, 339,355 Acupuncture, 337

ADD. See Attention Deficit Disorder After-images, 132

Agarwal, R. S., 32,175,271,300,427,429,430 Age. See also Presbyopia

Bates method and, 359,375 lens more rigid with, 56,57

Alexander Technique, 339 Amblyopia, Plate 54

activities for, 290-92 Bates on, 272-75,279-80 cause of, 272-75

eye patches for, 292 fusion vs., 288-89 refractive, 290 reversal of, 279-80 strabismic, 290,294 termed "lazy eye," 289 types of, 290 variations on, 289

Animals

glowing eyes of, 264 light and, 228 myopia in, 85

position of eyes in predator vs. prey, 262-64 sunning by, 230

third eye in, 228 vision of, 261-65

R E L E A R N I N G T O S E E

Anterior chamber, 8, Plate 4 Aoyagi, Shoichi,334 Applied kinesiology, 339

Aqueous humor, 6,8,86, Plate 4 Association cells, 259 Astigmatism, 14-15,94-96

ambiguity of brain dominance and, 317 axis, 14

Bates' view of, 27-28,95-97 chart, 15

compensating lenses for, 12-13, *5 conventional theory of, 95 discovery of, 15

etymology of, 95 eye shape and, 14 mixed, 96 myopic, 82

pinhole effect and, 212 prescriptions for, 21 production of, 94 reversal of, 95-97

voluntary production of, 95-96

Atropine, 29,44-45,67,75-76

Attention, spontaneous vs. voluntary, 154-55» 386-88 Attention Deficit Disorder ( A D D ) , 140

Attitudes, language and, 324 Axis (astigmatism), 14

В

Ballasts (for fluorescent lights), 238-39 Barnard, G. P., 337

Bases (prisms), 15

Bates, Emily. See Lierman, Emily C.

Bates, William H., For extracts, s e e Better Eyesight magazine and Perfect Sight Without Glasses

attacks on work of, 100-101,328-31 biographical sketch of, 477~78 research of, 45-48,69-73

Bates method. See Natural vision Bead Game

convergence and, 292-94, Plate 55 strabismus and, 294-95. Plates 56-57

Becker, Robert O., 404 Beliefs, importance of; 323-24

Beta-carotene, 422

Better Eyesight magazine (by topic) ages for Bates method, 359 astigmatism, 94,96

Bates method as habits, 184

blinking, 109-10,111,204-8

breathing, 198

centralization, 145-46,149,151-52 children, 375,388-96

closed-eyelid sunning, 229-30 concentration and relaxation, 154-55 dieting, 422

failures, 219

flashes of perfect sight, 214 hearing, 178

imperfect vision's effects, 380-81 "motion sickness" 131

movement, 109-11,113-15,117-18,174

movies, 407

nonacceptance of Bates method, 100-101,330

palming, 350,352-54

posture during sleep, 136

publication of, 478 reading, 362,368 relaxation, 173-75

risks of blurred vision, 426 serious vision problems, 428-31 shifting, 174,183

speech improvement, 396 squinting, 211

staring, 139-41 strabismus, 276-77,299

summary of key habits, 221-22,321 sunglasses, 242

swaying, 120

swinging, 124,127,174

testimonials, 431,442-45 type size, 362-64

unlearning poor vision habits, 188-89 vision stories for children, 396-98,497-505

Better Eyesight magazine (chronological)

December 1919,362-64

March 1920,178,429 April 1920,432

^Тк^П-"4,303,Зб2,375,

july 1920,105, ИЗ August 1920,375 September 1920,445

October^, 359,38c-*. 407,426,431 November 1920,299,359

December 1920,43°

March 1921,431

May 1921,431 August 1921,390-9З

November 1921,114,354,393 April 1922,204

September 1922,114,141,388-90

December 1922,131, i54,2i9,242

January 1923,198

February 1923,136

April 1923,100-101,393-94 May 1923,214,368

June 1923,139,173,368

July 1923,352-53,394

September 1923,111,205,368,429 October 1923,124,149,173 November 1923,205,354,442-43

January 1924,109,115,140,151-52,173,205,429-30 February 1924,109,205,353,497-500

March 1924,173,205-6,394 May, 1924,431

June 1924,206,396-98,431 July 1924,206,431

August 1924,206 September 1924,500-1

January 1925,206,354

March 1925,110,206,373 April 1925, i54-55

be 1925, no, 120,501-3 November 1925, no, 117-18

December 1925,110-11,131,145_4б> ^ l8S__^

2°7-З03,443-45 buary 1926,124,174

% ОД, 114,2u, 230,430

^927,207,276^,394.^

^ " 1 , 1 4 , 1 3 9 , 1 4 5 , 1 8 3 , 2 0 7 , 2 2 1 ,

°«ober 1927,174; 207

Index

N o v e m b er 1927,96,426

December 1927,114,174,184,207-8,211,221-22, 229-30,353

January 1928,430-31

February 1928,208 March 1928,127,174-75

April 1928,208,350,368,428-29 May 1928,139

December 1928,503-5 February 1930,120

Biddle, L. L., 100

Bieler, Henry G., 331,420 Biermann, June, 32,135,136,193,332 Bifocals

"bifocal neck" and, 31-32 computer screens and, 406 headaches caused by, 32 prescriptions for, 20,21-22 Binocular vision, 267-72, Plate 51

Birds, vision of, 262-63 Blindness, 431

Blind spot, 260-61, Plate 49 Blinking, 201-15

of actors, 210 anatomy and, 201-4 Bates on, 111,204-&

butterfly blinking story, 210-11 dry eyes from lack of, 203 emotions and, 214

flashes of perfect sight when, 214 frequency and duration, 208 importance of, 109,214-15 movement and, 207

relaxation and, 207 short swing and, no social aspects, 210,214 winking vs., 206-7

Blur

addressing the real cause of, 186 creation of, 33

epidemic nature of, 141-42

leading to serious vision problems, 425-28 as message to eliminate excessive strain, 33,

147-48,305

R E L E A R N I N G T O S E E

Boating, 416 Bodywork, 196,338

Boredom, vision impairment and, 140,385-86 Brain, 303-24

anatomy of, 304 characteristics, 304,306-7

hemispheric predisposition to nearand farsight­ edness, 314-16

imbalance between halves of, 309-12 left-brain oriented society, 305,308-12 processing of images by, 304-5 reactivating the right-, 311

vision and left-brain/right-brain concepts, 312-19 Breathing, 191-200

abdominal, activities, 194-95 anatomy of, 191

Bates on, 198 centralization and, 198 emotions and, 196 exercise and yoga, 197 movement and, 197 posture and, 197 relaxation and, 198,200 shallow chest, 193-94 smoking and, 197 staring and, 196 through nose, 193

Burroughs, Stanley, 339

Butterfly blinking story, 210-11

С

Canal of Schlemm, 8, Plate 4 Card games, 417

Carotene, 420

Carter-Scott, Cherie, 305,311

Case histories. See Testimonials and case histories

Cataracts, 29,241-42,428-29

Cats, vision of, 264

CCT (Correlated Color Temperature), 232-33

Central fixation. See Centralization Centralization, 145-68

activities, 157,159-64,167-68

breathing and. 198

"central fixation" vs., 300 defined, 17,145

diffusion vs., 147,149-50,152, Plate g

driving and, 409-11 elusive at first, 148-49 emotions and, 152-53 fusion and, 284-85 hearing and, 156-57 interference with, 140-50 left-brain, 318

memory and, 148 mental aspects, 153 movement and, 151-52 not obvious initially, 148 patterns, 164

physical aspects, 147 practicing, 165

as relaxed concentration, 154-56 resistance to relearning, 150-51 social aspects, 156

trusting peripheral vision while, 167-68 as universal principle, 157-59

with the Vision Halo, 288 window of, 168

CF (compact fluorescent) lights, 236-37

Chairs, 136

Children, 375-98

appropriateness of Bates method for, 359'

375-76

effect of parents on, 88-89,393-94 effect of poor vision on, 380-81 glasses' effects on, 30

importance of good vision for, 398 myopia in, 376-83

natural vision and, 108 radiation and, 403 reading naturally, 362

research and case histories, 388-96 sunglasses and, 243

taught not to centralize, 156 vision stories for, 396-98,497~5o8

Chiropractic, 328,339,345~46

Choroid, 6,249, Plate 30 Ciliary body, 6-7, Plate 4