Look Me in the Eye!

...Last night, I went to a well-attended New Year's party. In the crowded kitchen, I spied an old friend and his college-age daughter. Their eyes met; they seemed to be sharing a private joke, and I drank in the deep feelings of love and joy that passed between them.

From Susan Barry, PHd's Psychology Today blog:

This incident reminded me of a conversation I had had a few months ago. "What is it like to look someone in the eye?" a student (I'll call her Liz) had asked me. Liz is wall-eyed. When she looks at you, one eye turns out, giving you the impression that she is looking to the side. I told her that making eye contact could be pretty intense. It could indicate love, disapproval, or a plea for help. Sometimes, you may catch the eye of a stranger, the two of you exchanging a brief glance of mutual understanding, a shared feeling. No matter what the message, looking someone in the eye is a powerful way to connect. My student has been deprived of this way of connecting all her life.

Liz however is full of energy and optimism. In the fall, she began optometric vision therapy with a developmental optometrist in order to learn to straighten her eyes. Since her two eyes have not routinely looked at the same thing, she has been stereoblind. With vision therapy however, she is experiencing her first 3D views - a hand, for example, thrusting out toward her in space....