I've decided to give the Bates Method a go, most from inspiration from my Dad. While he didn't do the full Bates Method as he only had a minor problem with the right eye, it did help him get that eye back to 20/20. My eyesight is -3.25 in my left eye and -3.50 in my right eye. I am open to the fact that the Bates Method does work with dedication but the problem is that going to school I need to wear contact lenses to see the board. On Thursday during the Winter I also wear them for longer when doing Rugby and during the Summer on Wednesdays when doing Athletics. I've also joined the Air Training Corps so I'm going to be doing loads of activities where 20/20 vision is required (i.e pathfinding). I'm not skeptical about the method but rather how I can fit it in with the fact I still have to wear contacts?
Let me try some analogy - You wish to quit "Smoking" but you need to "smoke" to see the board. I already see a solution that depends on your choice of pace.
What you should start immediately is getting help from your Dad since he can be the motivation and benchmark for your progress. Next thing is your own commitment to the method - every chance you have without contacts is a potential time for doing something about your eyesight. You are on a short leash and a steep hill so you'll have to train harder for your eyes than for Air Training Corps to make it through.
For a month, wear your contacts normally but after that, minimize the time you have 'em on. Again, since its your decision, I can only assume but you CAN go longer with contacts (not my opinion). Gradually, you'll want to wear them lesser & lesser till you just stop completely. In the mean time, do what your Dad did and what the good people here tell ya - read David's blog, Nancy's blog, maybe even read my crappy posts but learn from everybody. And just don't give up in hard times, beyond that lies 20/20.
There are a lot of people in this type of situation. The advice I want to give such people could be quite problematic, so I will instead simply tell you what I like to think I would have done had I known about the Bates method sooner than I did. I would have refused to go to school, explaining my reasons to anyone who tried to make me go. If that didn't work, and I was facing unacceptable consequences for "truancy", I might have gone to school, but without glasses or contacts, and I would have made a point of not squinting or leaning forward to see anything. If that meant I couldn't do the work, then so be it.
Granted my eyesight is better than yours... However I can not see the board 80%, solution don't be embarrassed.... Sit next to a friend who can see the board... Ask him what it says and stuff..
For the most part you don't really need to see the board listen to the teacher go home and do the work.... If you can self teach yourself then you've already a step ahead of your peers..
Coming from a guy who got straight A's par a C(dropped) last year.
As the people above me have already mentioned, you need to pick your spots. It's easy to make the excuse that you can't accomplish much because you have school, but think about it. When does anyone really have nothing better to do than to improve their eyes? There's school, and when you're done with that, you have work... Perhaps you would be nearly commitment-free come retirement, but are you really going to wait that long?
Only you know when you can squeeze in a few minutes here, maybe a half hour there, etc. I go to school too. The challenge is finding those little spots of time during school AND still having the motivation at night to put in another 30-60 minutes. If you keep at it long enough, you'll quickly realize that the only stopping you from practicing is yourself (that is definitely the case with me).
And in case you're wondering, my eyesight is significantly worse than yours (about -6.0 and -4.5).
Pikachu, even if you spend some time on the Bates method, you're spending more time doing things that the Bates method would consider harmful. It's not just a matter of finding time to practice, it's about changing the way you see. At -6 and -4.5, for most of the school day you'll either be wearing glasses, squinting, or leaning forward. Perhaps even when you do close work.
@Daniel: I understand what you're saying, but I'm not quite sure that I can agree with it completely. As you say, wearing glasses and squinting/leaning forward (does going to school mean that one has to squint and lean forward?) will definitely be a hindrance in some manner. But I don't think that means that you just give up the Bates method altogether. Your suggestion of not going to school at all seems a bit extreme to me. Maybe you feel differently, but I hardly think that sacrificing an education for 20/20 vision can be considered a success.
You hit it on the nail when you said that it's about changing the way you see. But I think that there are two important points involved: One, you have to find time where you are only working on vision improvement. Obviously, the longer and more frequent, the better, but some time is almost always better than no time at all. Two, and perhaps the more difficult of the two, you need to have an eager determination to achieve that goal of perfect vision.
I'm guessing that you might disagree with me here, but I'm convinced that success is more dependent on the two points above than on whether one wears glasses, goes to school, goes to work, etc. I just don't think that skipping school is a good solution. It'll speed your progress, I'm sure, but at what cost?
Education can be made up later. Lots of people drop out of school and then get their GED. The more nearsighted you become, however, the harder it's going to be to reverse it. Once you're nearsighted enough that you can't even do most near work without wearing glasses/squinting/leaning forward, you're in a real bind. Of course, I'm not actually suggesting that young myopes quit school or refuse to do the work, I'm just saying that that would be the ideal solution if unacceptable consequences could be avoided.
Daniel Wrote:Education can be made up later. Lots of people drop out of school and then get their GED. The more nearsighted you become, however, the harder it's going to be to reverse it. Once you're nearsighted enough that you can't even do most near work without wearing glasses/squinting/leaning forward, you're in a real bind. Of course, I'm not actually suggesting that young myopes quit school or refuse to do the work, I'm just saying that that would be the ideal solution if unacceptable consequences could be avoided.
This is silly its the same diellema as people going into sports without education.. they can only play when there young and can get education later right? What happens if your quest to become an international star fails.
Well its not exactly like that analogy, it differs in the fact you can apply bates method and education at the same time... Also correcting near sight does not bring meat to the table...
You would be foolish to give up such a large chunk of your life for something which in all honesty is not a sure thing at all....
Go to school kiddo, it only lasts a few years... Sit as close to the board as possible and get weaker lenses for board use only.. then take em off, your biggest challenge is to ignore your fellow classmates.
Shambles Wrote:Go to school kiddo, it only lasts a few years... Sit as close to the board as possible and get weaker lenses for board use only.. then take em off, your biggest challenge is to ignore your fellow classmates.
What if you're nearsighted to the extent that you need to wear glasses/squint/lean forward even to do desk work? Which is actually not that much; if the near-work distance is half a meter, then anything worse than -2.00 is going to cause you a problem in that regard, though you may not notice yourself leaning closer to your desk or computer.
Shambles Wrote:This is silly its the same diellema as people going into sports without education.. they can only play when there young and can get education later right? What happens if your quest to become an international star fails.
Well its not exactly like that analogy, it differs in the fact you can apply bates method and education at the same time...
I would say it is the opposite. You can get an education while pursuing athletics, but you can not get an education while really and truly applying the Bates method with moderate to high nearsightedness. Unless the education is all non-visual.
Shambles Wrote:Also correcting near sight does not bring meat to the table...
The whole process would more or less depend on a supportive parent or guardian anyway. Hopefully, needs such as food will be provided for until someone can provide for themselves, whatever the situation.
Shambles Wrote:You would be foolish to give up such a large chunk of your life for something which in all honesty is not a sure thing at all....
If you pull out all the stops, maybe it won't be such a large chunk of your life.
I think we can all agree that a sacrifice needs to be made here. Anyone who thinks that they can optimize their educational experience AND their vision improvement is greatly deceived. I don't see why you can't have some of each, but it's a tradeoff.
I'm inclined to agree with Daniel on most of his points. From my own experience, I have found it impossible to practice the Bates method while say, doing my homework at the same time. I've tried to incorporate a little something - maybe blinking, or shifting, even swaying - but when the mind isn't fully occupied with the act, there is rarely any improvement and I have found that more strain is created sometimes.
I agree with that if you want to improve your vision youre a lot better off not going to school.
However I am sure you can get through school balance your time and prevent any vision deterioration.....
It's your choice just my opinion school is more important however I guess it varies, I mean I can see the board in class with abit of shifting.... That in its self is improving my eyesight. I go for an hour walk everyday....
I am confident my vision is improving, I'm getting good grades and I'm sure my vision has not got worse.
Shambles Wrote:I agree with that if you want to improve your vision youre a lot better off not going to school.
However I am sure you can get through school balance your time and prevent any vision deterioration.....
That depends on how bad your vision already is. You said in another thread that you're -2.5 in each eye. What about someone who is a diopter worse? Two diopters worse? That person would have trouble doing desk-work without glasses. How does such a person balance his or her time?
