Take as an example the pupil who starts at
-16D and improves to -8 / -5. This is fair
progress by any standards, and far beyond what
most medical people would regard as possible, but
the fact remains, the vision is not normal, and
if, instead of improving further, it shows a
tendency to stabilise at this point we should ask
ourselves, why?, with several supplementary
questions which need searching answers before we
should be content to say that the limit of
improvement has been reached.
The likely reasons can be categorised as
1 Functional
2 Mental/emotional
3 Physiological
1 Functional reasons
Although the function is improved, it is not
normal. Although the techniques used have been
helpful, they need refining and improving.
Difficulty arises especially if one has
developed a habit of thinking of the way that
exercises &c are carried out as 'right' which
forms a barrier to further change. This sort of
problem arises in many learning situations and is
sometimes remedied by a change of teacher. This
does not imply that the first teacher is bad or
the new one any better, just that a change in the
whole situation is sometimes helpful in
refreshing the approach. It may be also that what
at first appears to be a technical difficulty may
have an emotional basis: e.g. there is some
difficulty in surrendering control in order to
allow something to happen spontaneously, and this
attitude causes a restriction whatever practices
are used or who ever is teaching them.
2 Mental / Emotional reasons
Fixed belief (e.g.: '1 can accept a degree of
improvement but for it to become perfect is too
big a strain on my reason'). Loss of motivation
(It's good enough for now, 1 have other
priorities ). Fear of Success (often based on
childhood conditioning). Fear of Seeing (often
based on unresolved internal difficulties).
Rational reservations can be overcome by
reason, given time. The deeper emotional
difficulties, leading to self-sabotage in various
forms, will, again, affect all learning
enterprises at some stage, but vision work tends
to bring them out quite dramatically. The problem
this poses can be a very important general
learning opportunity, but I always have a bias
against vision lessons turning into open-ended
psychotherapy and anyway, the question is, if
this person's vision is to be improved, how do we
get beyond insightful discussion of this
interesting difficulty and actually do something
about it?
3 Physiological reasons
Pathological damage to nervous system, muscles or
body of eye. Assumed inherent fault in shape of
eye. Loss of flexibility from age &c.
My bias is always that a physiological basis
or limitation to a problem remains to be proved.
A nerve pathway may or may not be damaged, but if
the function responds to stimulus it can be
worked with. An eyeball may or may not be
permanently elongated after years of high myopia
but if the refraction consistently improves one
cannot assume a physical limit.
