I've been a bit busy lately. Here is a success story from Dr. Antonia Orfield, and my comments on her ideas. What makes this story more than a typical testimony is that it's published by an OD, on a behavioral optometry journal.
Tom
Thank you very much for that link to Dr Antonia Orfield's writing. What a terrific piece of work she did exploring some of the possible mechanisms behind the onset and then the progression of myopia. Her insight that myopia is tied to the problem of seeing
space took my breath away--this resonated strongly with me, as well as her comments on the need to strengthen the peripheral vision. As one of her patients commented, it seems to me that one aid in improving our eyesight is when we train ourselves to be
in the space surrounding us, rather than just looking at what is in front of us, and through lenses.
It was admirable that she found a way to improve to virtually 20/20 by continuing to explore each recovery path on her own--and prior to her studying to be an OD. That it took her 7 years speaks to her tenacity and her refusal to be stopped by the nay-sayers, who were no doubt around every corner. More admirable was her decision to become an OD herself so that she could explore the field more systematically and her discoveries could be grounded in solid credentials. As Tom noted, she then approached the subject in the most empathetic way possible: that of a (knowledgeable) patient herself, instead of just the doctor.
Immediately after I finished reading the link to her article, I looked her up in Google and was sorry to see that the first hits were her obituary, in 2009. She does have a book, available on amazon.com. (Amazon has interesting reviews and comments.) I have ordered that and am looking forward to reading it.
Tom, I noted your last comment about Dr.Frauenfeld's approach being the one that we "should follow at this point." I would hope that this is not meant to denigrate Orfield's observations and insights. In fighting the good fight to rehabilitate ourselves from myopia, it would be well to arm ourselves with all theories and approaches, especially when those have a track record of being effective in their own way.