Asperger's Syndrome

[Tim May]

On Wednesday, May 7, 2003, at 08:03  PM, John Kozubik wrote:

>> Eyeglasses have become common only in the past 100 years (and arguably
>> in the past 60 years, about since the time visits to eye doctors 
>> became
>> common). While there have been jokes about "four eyes" not breeding,
>> because they can't get dates, neither this theory nor the converse
>> appear to have any correlation with actual breeding patterns. Do more
>> kids today need glasses than 100 years ago? Than 500 years ago? Than
>> 5000 years ago? An interesting question, but claims that the past
>> 60-100 years of eyeglass wearing have caused some major change in
>> genetics seems to be a stretch.
>
> Another possibility is that a large population of those with corrected
> vision had their vision slowly degraded by the early applications of 
> the
> correction.  I have no experience with vision correction, but I know
> anecdotally that most people with corrected vision need their 
> corrections
> strengthened throughout their lifetime.  In reality, their sight 
> problem
> may have stabilized (or even improved) very early on in the absence of
> treatment.  Thus, our perception of what sight abilities the average
> person in the United States has might be artificially deflated by early
> and aggressive treatment.

And equally anecdotally, my prescription has changed very little since 
when I was 14, when I first got glasses. I am now 51 and I can easily 
wear my glasses from 20 years ago as a backup pair. (Somewhere I have 
my old John Lennon-style glasses from _32_ years ago, and they are 
close to my current prescription.) Wearing glasses has not worsened my 
vision, and I doubt strongly that _not_ wearing glasses would improve 
my vision...though it might make me squint and strain and pull my eyes 
the way the girls in high school used to do to see the blackboard.

I don't see any evidence that wearing glasses weakens eyes...the issue 
of vision correction is primarily one of eyeball shape, not the muscles 
which can, through squinting and straining, improve vision.

Most people become nearsighted if they are young and lose their 20-20 
vision. Some become farsighted. I see no evidence that those who become 
nearsighted when they are young would keep their good vision if only 
they skipped getting glasses. (I did notice a very large fraction of 
the girls in my high school squinting and using their fingers to pull 
their eyes, this to avoid wearing glasses. Perhaps this is why so many 
of them did so poorly in class? The several girls who did well in our 
school all wore glasses. The cheerleaders didn't, except for one, but 
they all got pregnant shortly after graduation and worked for 
Piggly-Wiggly and various banks, as tellers.)

If you have some real evidence that wearing glasses is the cause of 
poor vision, I'm all ears, so to speak.

--Tim May
"Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can't help being stupid.  But 
stupidity is the only universal crime;  the sentence is death, there is 
no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without 
pity." --Robert A. Heinlein