For as long as I can remember, I have had double vision that causes me to see two of everything. The way I see double has changed/fluctuated as I have gotten older— sometimes I would see two items side by side, sometimes they would appear one on top of the other, or I would see a “shadow” effect where one image collides with the other. In my eyes, I see twice as many objects, people, and words as everyone else. This is good for things like cute animals that I would love to see two of, but less good for things like spilled popcorn or pages of text that look heavily distorted because of the colliding images.
Over the years, I have found better ways to explain my double vision and how it impacts my ability to access everyday objects and activities, which is especially helpful for designers, teachers, parents, and others who may be confused by the concept of seeing double. Today, I will be sharing ten “odd” things I do with double vision that people tend to notice as I try to make sense of visual information. When I showed this post to one of my professors, they exclaimed “oh, so that’s why you do that thing you do!”
Wait, why do you see double?
Great question! I have an eye condition called accommodative esotropia, a common childhood eye condition that causes eyes to turn inward, resulting in diplopia, also known as double vision. I also have a brain condition called Chiari Malformation, which is believed to contribute to my double vision, amongst other symptoms. As a result, I have vision loss stemming from ocular visual impairment (eye-based) and neurological visual impairment (brain-based). As a result, my vision frequently fluctuates and I always have some form of double vision.
The intensity of my double vision can change depending on several factors, including:
- Fatigue and eye strain, especially after performing visually demanding tasks
- Allergies
- Weather
- Heat or changes in temperature
- Indoor lighting
- Sunlight or bright lights
- Nighttime or dim/dark lighting
- Pain levels
- Overstimulation or sensory overload (makes it harder to focus my eyes)
- Availability of vision breaks or other opportunities to rest eyes
In my personal situation, the “double” image can be on the left or right side, it seems to change depending on which eye I am using to focus or based on fatigue. I don’t know if this is common for other people with double vision, but it is something I have noticed for myself.
Related links
- Disability Accommodations For Fluctuating Eyesight
- Learning To Explain Usable Vision
- How I Respond To Questions/Comments About My Eyes
- Two of Everything: Living With Double Vision
- How I Explain My Brain With Chiari Malformation
- How I Respond To Questions/Comments About My Glasses
Have trouble making eye contact
Whenever I am talking to someone, I strive to make eye contact with them so I can ensure that they know I am paying attention to what they have to say. Sometimes, I end up making eye contact with the double image instead, and it sometimes looks like I am staring at whatever is behind the person. If I am in a setting where eye contact is especially important, I will ask my friend to discreetly put their hand on my shoulder to show what side the person is standing on, so I will know to look in that direction.
Related links
- College Interview Tips For Disabled Students
- How To Approach Someone with Low Vision Without Scaring Them
- School News and Low Vision
Read the eye chart one line at a time
When my ophthalmologist (who specializes in double vision and adult strabismus) has me read the eye chart, they display one letter or line at a time on the screen, instead of showing me the entire chart at once. This helps to make sure that lines don’t run into each other and makes it easier for me to focus on letters. That’s why whenever I am reading print materials, I prefer to have line trackers or only have a few lines displayed at a time, so I can easily focus on what I’m supposed to be reading. Line trackers can come in many forms, from using bookmarks to track text in a book to using programs like Immersive Reader to improve the readability of websites and documents.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Adapting Page Layouts: Math Problems and Low Vision
- Simplified Reading Displays and Low Vision
- A to Z of Assistive Technology For Low Vision
Run into door frames
While my lack of depth perception causes me to frequently run into walls and similar obstacles, my double vision is actually responsible for making me run into door frames. This is because I have trouble trying to figure out how wide the door is, since the two double images often run into each other or make the door seem like it is on a different side of the wall. This is where using my blindness cane comes in handy, because I can tap the sides of the door frame and make sure I know where I am going.
Related links
- How To Create Dorm Door Signs and Decorations For Low Vision
- Twelve Blindness Cane Storage Solutions
- Decoding The Tips of Blindness Canes
Have trouble focusing on small print
Why do people with double vision need large print? For me, seeing double images of text makes it difficult to figure out what a word actually says. For example, if the word “cell phone” is printed in a smaller font, I will read it as “cellell phonene” or otherwise have additional letters repeated at the end of the word. By having access to larger print, I can more easily distinguish words and figure out what they say.
Related links
- Ways To Use Teleprompter Apps As Assistive Technology
- How I Read Research Sources With Assistive Technology
- Lemon On A Pear: Accessible Memes For Low Vision
- Low Vision Assistive Technology For Discussion Board Posts
- Using PicsArt To Simulate Low Vision
- My Favorite Free Fonts For Print Disabilities
- Accessible Python IDEs For Low Vision
Miss chairs/stairs
One of my professors this semester told me that they can always tell when I am walking down the hallway because I always come to a screeching halt when I reach a set of stairs. I have to rely on my blindness cane and tactile markers to ensure that I do not step on a nonexistent stair or otherwise miss the last step and fall down.
The same professor also once watched me sit on what I thought was a bench outside and turned out to be nothing, so I ended up unexpectedly sitting on the ground instead (or as most people would call it, falling). As a result, I try to put my hand or my cane against a chair before I sit down so I know its general location.
Related links
- Tactile Pavement and Accessible Walkways For Visually Impaired
- Disability Accommodations For Graduation
- Falling Down (With Style): College O&M
- How To Explain Disability Accommodations To Professors
Reach for thin air
The other day, one of my friends went to hand me a stapler, and I reached out my hand for it. I quickly realized that I was grabbing air, and shifted my hand accordingly so I could take the stapler from their hand. Thanks to double vision, I have trouble determining the location of objects and will sometimes reach to grab the double image instead of the original image.
Related links
- Learning To Explain Usable Vision
- How I Talk About Disability With New Friends
- High Contrast and Low Vision
- Disability and Classroom Accommodations For Chiari Malformation
Color inside the wrong lines
When I was in kindergarten, no one really understood why I had trouble staying inside the lines when coloring, because not much was known about my functional vision level. The reality was that I thought I was coloring inside the lines, because my double vision caused me to see an additional image of the lines for the picture that was shifted to the side. Had they been available to me, I would have benefitted from having access to high-contrast coloring sheets with large, bold lines.
Related links
- Dear Elementary School Teacher
- Art Classes and Low Vision
- Painting Pottery With Low Vision
- Ten Ways Visual Impairment Influenced Classic Artists
Have trouble hitting/catching balls
If you ever want to see me move my hands in all directions or see something fall on the floor, just toss an object and yell “Veronica, catch!”
There are many aspects of my low vision that make catching and hitting objects difficult, but my double vision makes it harder for me to catch things that are thrown at me. This is because I do not often have enough time to figure out which direction the object is being thrown at me, and I don’t have enough time to process which image I should try to catch. Since ball-based sports are a major component of physical education/gym classes at the middle and high school level, I had modifications for my gym classes and took adaptive PE in high school.
Related links
- Gym Classes and Low Vision: My Personal Experiences
- Dance Classes and Low Vision
- Audio Workouts and Low Vision
- Swing Dancing And Low Vision
Prefer screens to be close to my face
Whenever I am working with a computer, phone, or tablet, I prefer to have the screen be fairly close to my face, but not so close that the backlight affects my photosensitivity. By having screens close to my face, I can minimize the impact of my double vision if a large percentage of the screen is directly in front of my face. This is also why I prefer to sit towards the front at movies, plays, and other performing arts events, so that I can focus my eyes as much as possible.
Related links
- Ten Ways to Reduce Eye Strain With Technology
- How To Make Classroom Videos Easier To See
- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Tablets
- Tips for Going To Movie Theaters With Low Vision
Double check numbers and symbols
Once upon a time, I was taking a math test in eighth grade and was having a very bad day for eye fatigue, meaning that my double vision was less controlled than usual. I was taking a math quiz and thought that the question was asking for the number 1010 to be used for the problem. I found myself wondering why the teacher had chosen such a large number, and later found out that they hadn’t- the question involved the number 10, not 1010.
I learned my lesson after that to double check with the teacher if a number seems weird or to ask them to rewrite a question on my paper. One of my friends who also has double vision told me that they requested that teachers would write out a math problem with cardinal numbers as well as regular numbers. So the problem 2+2 would have the text “two plus two” underneath.
Related links
- Adapting Digital Equations: Math Problems and Low Vision
- Adapting Coordinate Planes: Math Problems and Low Vision
- Adapting Math Symbols: Math Problems and Low Vision
- Five Accessible Calculator Apps For Low Vision
- How I Show Work For Math With Low Vision and Dysgraphia
- Emoji Accessibility and Low Vision
More resources on double vision and low vision resources
- A lot of my teachers and support team members in school were not familiar with accommodating double vision, so I often had to advocate for my own needs to receive accessible materials in the classroom. Learn more in Learning to Self-Advocate
- I mentioned earlier in the post that double vision makes it challenging to navigate noisy and crowded environments, and this was extremely obvious in my school cafeteria. I write more about this in School Cafeterias and Low Vision
- I wear prescription glasses to help manage double vision, but it isn’t corrected completely. Learn more in Veronica’s Four Eyes: All About My Glasses For Low Vision
- Want to learn more about accommodations for low vision? Browse Accommodations archives | Veronica With Four Eyes (www.veroniiiica.com)
Published April 29, 2019. Updated January 2025