Duane's Syndrome 8/22/07

Cameron has this funny thing he does with his eyes - especially if he's in trouble! He will look at me with one eye crossed & one straight. It's a little creepy, but we didn't think much about his interesting talent. He's only been doing it for the last year or so, and seemingly on demand. However with some recent developments with his cousin McKenna's vision, I decided to get his eyes checked.

At his appointment yesterday we were told he has a congenital defect known as "Duane's Syndrome". In his case it is on his left side. We thought his right eye was wandering, but the problem actually lies in a miswiring of the cranial nerves on his left side. His left eye will not go out toward his ear, so his right eye will appear to cross when he is trying to look far left without turning his head.

Surgery is only an option in extreme cases where it causes a head tilt, and it cannot be corrected with glasses or trained to go left. His vision is great, but we will get him glasses to help relieve the strain on his eyes at school. We will also need to visit with his teacher, so she can place his desk where he won't be trying to see to the left. We discovered he was already doing things to adapt, i.e. holding books to the right side and turning his head to see left. He will do fine.