For this one I am handing the blog over to number 2 of the Long dynasty … Louise (well the thoughts are hers-I still had to write it!)
Louise was born with a congenital cataract in her left eye. The science bit: Congenital cataracts are rare enough and are often small or not on the visual axis (line of sight) and so often don’t pose a problem to sight. Unluckily for our Louise, her cataract is a whopper and right on the visual axis of her left eye rendering that eye blind since birth. Unfortunately if a congenital cataract to this degree is not diagnosed at a very young age, typically before 2 months, there is very little to in Louise’s case nothing that can be done to save the sight as her retinal cells and visual pathways have been deprived of any stimulation of sight. So enough of the science!
But this is not what Louise’s rant is about. Louise has lived with this all her life and it has never caused her too much hassle. She occassionally bumps into stuff on her left hand side and will have to be more careful when she EVENTUALLY learns to drive. She needs to be extra careful not to injure the good eye and as kids we were never allowed play the “flick the wet tea towel” torture game! She also only needs to use one contact lens, cost saving if you didn’t have a sister who is an optician!
The reason for Louise’s rant … a rant she is very passionate about and something she wants all you normal binocular sighted people to know about is that everytime she sees a movie or anything for that matter advertised as 3D she screams in frustration, and I can vouch for that!
See Louise, along with anyone who has a lazy eye, prosthetic eye, lost vision due to accident or disease etc cannot see the effects of 3D as they aren’t viewing with two eyes or watch it in general as it looks like muck without the 3D Specs!
Who cares you may say-at least she can still see in her other eye and go see it in bog standard 2D! Yes that is optional, if the movie comes in 2D. It is optional if there is a 2D showing of the movie as was the case when we wanted to see Avatar 2D in any Dublin cinema on a Friday night some weeks ago. It is frustrating for Louise as she has to depend on others to miss a 3D experience so she can go to same movie or in some cases has missed a movie as others would not miss the 3D version! But her biggest frustration and concern is that 2D movies will be phased out or new releases will only be available in 3D marking a possible end to her cinema going days!
Her rant not only ends there as she is raging in my right ear about how 3D is now coming to sports games and TV channels ie Channel Four’s 3D week. She fears if they can bring it to TV Channels the next step is 3D DVD’s and movie nights in and our Louise is a big movie freak!
So if you are a normal sighted individual and enjoy 3D movies, think of those next time you are set up in you Woody Allen specs who cannot enjoy the experience and feel like they are missing out!
If you are someone like Louise she’d love to hear its not just her that gets upset and annoyed!
Love ya Louise and your lampy eye š
Mynameisamy's Blog 
Yey I’m not the only freak!! I know this sounds really stupid but I forgot I would have trouble with 3-D until I was sitting in the cinema attempting to watch Avatar. With a blinding headache for watching something out of focus, and the wonderful feeling that I had thrown sand in my eyes, I was sorely tempted to leave, but I was with the other half so I suffered through it.
I’m really worried that 3D will be phased into everything, I’m a huge movie buff and this would be terrible! The only other time this really effected me(apart from the being careful as a child, and still not having learned to drive either!) is when I went to art college and all the tutors said that my drawing were technically perfect, but weirdly flat. It baffled them all for ages until I told them about my eyesight….they found it pretty facinating. I didn’t get marked down because they figured that’s how I saw the world.
Nope you are not the only freak! As an Optician I see lots of you “freaks” daily and this 3D business is affecting all of you! Louise in the above post is also a keen artist! Funny that!