Strabismus got you down? This will lift you up!
Written on December 1, 2007 – | by Lois (admin) |
Brett shared the url to this video in our Eyes Apart Strabismus Support group recently. Brett writes, “If strabismus seems like a barrier to living our dreams and gaining acceptance, just imagine the hurdles these two beautiful dancers have managed to overcome.”
The ballet “Hand in Hand” is performed by Ma Li and Zhai Xiaowei, who lost limbs in separate auto accidents.
Ma, who lost her arm when she was 19, says, “It’s the power of love and the strength of joining hands, which keeps us persevering.”
Zhai was only 4 years old when he lost his leg. The determination, strength, and grace he displays reminds us that we are only as handicapped as we allow ourselves to be.
You can read more about these inspiring dancers at the links below:
16 Responses to “Strabismus got you down? This will lift you up!”
By Nick on Feb 22, 2008 | Reply
I think this is very inspiring !,I’m only 18 and strasbismus has honestly almost driven me mad .
I cope much better with it now but it’ll never go completley .You always have to think how much worse off you could be ,at least you can still see ,at least we still have our arms and legs .Also one problem I had was that I thought that I was in some way inferior to everyone else .
Imagine walking down a street and you see someone with no legs .You don’t judge them as a person if anything you admire them .Its only immature and empathic people who make fun and laugh.
Anyway I hope this helps you in some way ,looking at it from this point of view certainly helped me . After all its only another of life’s obsticles.
Nick
By Johnny Vargas on Apr 25, 2008 | Reply
Very inspiring to watch that video.
Makes strabismus seem like an elbow scratch.
My son has strabismus and after 4 surgeries his alignment is within a range that is not noticeable to an untrained eye.
He is a strong and confident child and loves attention. Treated for his condition as a young child, when people stared at him he smiled nice and wide with his beautiful crossed-eyes. As the saying goes…. “it was harder on us that it was on him.”
- Johnny Vargas
(author of “Our Journey with Strabismus” a resource for parents of children with strabismus)
By steph on Feb 14, 2009 | Reply
Truly Amazing. Very inspiring that they use their Abilities instead of focusing on Disabilities. We all have some kind of challenge in our lives whether it is emotional or physical. We all have to accept and love ourselves the way we are. Humans are not perfect. We just have to find our strengths.
By Emma on Feb 19, 2009 | Reply
Like nick I’m only 18 too and I’ve lived with strasbismus since i was born and I’ve always hated it i feel its always held me back i hate making eye contact and almost always have my fringe covering it, Alot of people have told me they do not notice it which after being teased for years at school i find hard to believe and i’m a photographer and i attempt alot of self portraits and my eye is one thing that i’m very scared of people noticing and commenting on it as i’ve had a few public embarrassments where people have outright said ” whats wrong with your eye ” Or the good old original ” Sorry where you talking to me?, i thought you were looking behind me ”
I had two surgeries as a child and my eye wasn’t strong enough to hold in the correct place and now i’m too scared to go through with surgery because i’ve heard that i could end up with my eye looking worse.
Emma
By ram on Mar 6, 2009 | Reply
hello I am ram ia m 26 and ia m living with strabismus from childhood i have a lazy right eye which showes outward strabismus in it
I lost everything in my life because of it i am so so so talented person but everyday i am losing chances i lost my shcool days and my colleage days and now i am loosing my work days i am not happy in my life i cant make any eye contact with people i lost my self confidence and i have no friends now no friends
and i am so talented as an actor ; i love acting and i am losing all chances becuase of strabismus
and my family dont know anything about my sufferings each day
please if anyone can help me by telling me how we can make a good eye contact …please help
By Lois on Aug 6, 2009 | Reply
hi, i’m 36 years old and have lived with strabismus all of my life. i was teased as a child even as a adult people still ask me am i talking to them or if i’m lookin at them. it has been the most difficult thing in my life that i had to deal with. It is so embarrasing to me and i understand how the other bloggers feel. It can not only take away your confidence and self esteem it can also still your dreams i had a employer ask me if my eyes would stop me from doing my job. I know from expience it can be difficult.
By EDDIE on Sep 24, 2009 | Reply
Life sucks when you have strabismus.
People just dont understand how painful it can be.
Its like if you were trying to hide a major problem by not having eye contact with others.
By john on Dec 6, 2009 | Reply
Hey Ram i have exactly the same problem as yours. Felt like i am reading my own feelings written by someone else. Recently i have been reading about vision therapy and havent gone for any surgery yet just because of the fear. Its really annoying when you cant make eye contact with anyone.
By brian on Dec 26, 2009 | Reply
Hi, I am Brian and i have extropia which is strabismus in my left eye only, it really gets me down all the time, i cant work because of it, cos of the lack of confidence, find social encounters very difficult, i have had 2 operations when i was 6 and when i was 15 but the squint come back, i was gutted, i havnt worked for 10 years now cos of this, we are all feeling the same i have noticed, so i know exactly how you all feel, i am scared to have an operation again because i have a fear of being knocked out, i just cant do it fullstop, i really wish i could go through with it again. but i have been looking on the internet and i am sure i have found a miracle cure to a certain degree, you can have blotox injected in to your eye with a very this needle, only takes about 10 minutes, whilst they freeze your eye using drops, this blotox makes your eye go back to normal for 3-4 months and i think it costs 200 pounds each session, i am very excited by this, it is unbelivable.. im gonna look in to this. after the 3-4 months you have to go back and so on and so on, but it is a small price to pay i think for happiness and confidence back in your life again. hope this info helps you all too, and good luck.
By brian on Dec 27, 2009 | Reply
just to update you, i have now decided that i am going to get a prosthetic contact lense as my vision in my eye with the squint is pretty good so i think that will be fine, but im not sure about all of you? maybe your vision is not that good so i dont know if that will work for you all. good look anyway, as there is options out there for all of us.
By Ike on Jan 7, 2010 | Reply
This interview persuaded me to just get the surgery. I’m 25 and it will be my 2nd, 1st was at age 5. Intermittent exotropia of some kind. Besides difficulty making eye contact, I’ve found reading text increasingly difficult over the years. Has anyone else had this problem?
Also, people document their recoveries on Youtube- it doesn’t look too bad a few days into recovery.
http://www.childrenshospital.org/clinicalservices/Site1763/mainpageS1763P4.html
By Paul Edwards on Jan 10, 2010 | Reply
Yep, its a fact, no matter how bad off you think you are there is always someone worse off!
By Paul Edwards on Jan 10, 2010 | Reply
Yes, its a problem with the opposite sex - they have this thing about eye contact and looking deep into the mans eyes - they cant do it with us! But dispite that I have had several attractive girlfriends and been married twice
SO DONT GIVE UP!
Paul
By Paul Edwards on Jan 10, 2010 | Reply
Cheer up Emma - your not only one who has been on the receiving end of cruel thoughtless comments. It can be hard with strangers esp those who insist on making ‘eye contact’
I also have had people looking away thinking that im looking at something or somebody else.
Surgery does work for some people - but not for me.
As I have said in my other posts all you can do is live your life as fully as you can and people will tend to respect you more.
I spent 9 years in the Household Cavalry in London (1971 to 1980) An did all the training and duties so called normal soldiers did.
I have also driven for at least 30 years and still do - no one has ever said that my problem might affect my ability to drive. I recently had a stringent medical to work on London airport and there was no problem!
I have also been married twice and have 4 ordinary duaghters… If I can do it anyone can!!
Good luck Emma.
Paul
By rahul on Feb 28, 2010 | Reply
i m losing my confidence day by day because i can’t make proper eye contact. i have faced so many difficulties frm my childhood.
By brian on Mar 9, 2010 | Reply
further to my last comment on this site on december 26th 2009, just to update you about the botox treatment injections in eyr for exotropia. well i had my interview at sunderland eye infirmary north east and the woman said i should be allowed to have the botox injections, a bit scared about it but i think a small price to pay, think it only lasts 10 mins or so. looking forward to it. i think botox could be the answer for most of us, it does seem the way forward. you have to have it done every four month though but its worth it, and its free by the way which did surprise me as i thought i would have to pay at least 200 pound per session. so everyone look in to botox. good luck. just to say this site is excellent, really glad i came acroos it. brian north east.