Does your gamer kid need glasses?
H., our oldest, notice about a month ago that he couldn’t see the overhead projector in his classroom. My immediate thoughts:
1. Your dad is nearly blind and nearsighted, so yeah, perfectly feasible.
2. Your poor teacher is using overheads? Our educational system is stuck in the 80s forever. Oh, and we’re screwed.
So, we schedule his eye exam, and sure enough – he’s very nearsighted. If he were 3 years older and going for a licenses, the Department of Transportation would mandate corrective lenses.
So, we find a wicked sharp pair of glasses – and he’s likely to look wicked smart to match.
But…..what to do with a kid who reads, and if he isn’t reading, is gaming?
The doc mentioned that H’s eyes were ‘over accomodating.’ Took her using the term 3x before I guessed that she had a different sense of meaning for the word. So I made a mental note “while the turkey is cooking and the sweet potatoes are going – look up accomodation.”
The bright folks at IBM have a nice sight on vision and computing, specifically on accomodation:
The Eye Muscles – Accomodation & Vergence
So, it seems that a direct correlation of accomodation and fatigue isn’t proven, but, comfortable accomodation is ideal for good vision. After drudging thru the site, which makes some assumptions that even a geek mom couldn’t decipher, we got the heart of it – and had a decent (meaning in this sense – fast ) lesson in optics too.
We now have science to back up an old rule:
– Look up now and then, and in natural in-game pauses, get up and look around. Maybe take out the trash or something . 
Happy thanksgiving all!
