MBI: an often undiagnosed issue

Nicholas Sparks once said, “Nothing worthwhile is ever easy.”
This quote holds true in anything anyone chooses to do in life, but also for those who have a monocular binocular insufficiency.
What is this strange term and how do I know so much about it? Well, it’s because I have it.
MBI is the inability to focus both eyes simultaneously on an object. About 7 percent of the human population have this disability, which is also known by the term “convergence insufficiency.”
This insufficiency was first described by Albrecht von Graefe, a German opthamologist who described the problem in 1855. He believed it may be myogenic in origin, meaning originating in muscle tissues. Graefe also believed convergence insufficiency could be managed with orthoptic therapy.
A person suffering with a convergence insufficiency would often suffer from eye strain, headaches, a short attention span, sleepiness while doing an activity and squinting, rubbing or closing their eyes often. While reading, a person may experience blurred vision, double vision or words may appear to move, jump, swim or float on the page.
Some symptoms that a parent or teacher may notice in a child or student are trouble accurately catching or throwing objects, such as a ball through the air, an avoidance of tasks that require depth perception, avoidance of eye contact, poor posture while doing nearsighted activities, one shoulder being noticeably higher than the other, a frequent head tilt and problems with motion sickness.
What someone such as myself may see when reading would be something like this:
Example: Th edo gr ann thr oug gh t hh e wo ods s an dth eref or e go t l os t.
Translation: The dog ran through the woods and therefore got lost.
It may have been hard to read, but for those select people who have MBI, this is what reading can be like. Convergence insufficiency is just now being realized by a small number of people. Interestingly enough, some adults have it and have never gotten it treated. Most adults learn to cope in different ways, some choosing to close an eye as they read.
There is no cure for convergence insufficiency, but there are treatments to help a person cope with it – Cover up the sentences on a page that aren’t being looked at. When using a computer for a period of time, take a break and look around the room. If studying for a test with a study guide that has too much on it, transfer the information to a notecard.
The piece of advice I give is if something isn’t working well in the classroom, talk to the teacher about it and get help.
The journey to working with this disability is a long one and, at times, people may feel like they can’t do it. I’ve been down that road before and still feel that way sometimes. But it is an issue that allows people to learn new things about themselves and teaches them to work harder than most.
Morgan Kafana is a staff writer for the Trinity High School Hiller newspaper.