Written by the brilliant, Developmental Optometrist, David Cook, “The Shape of the Sky” teaches the reader how to “do vision.”
I highly recommend this book to anyone undergoing vision therapy and especially to any optometrist or ophthalmologist! Dr. Cook weaves the complexity of the binocular visual system with literary fun in his unique writing style, but it is not a quick or light read. I definitely was googling terms throughout and had to reread sections to fully understand them.
The Shape of the Sky and the concepts Dr. Cook teaches have been more instrumental in my learning to see in 3D than anything else I have done. My optometrist and I both have read it and it has been very impactful on his treatment plan and my implementation of the plan.
Why You Need This Book
- Dr. Cook will teach you, through 75 exercises and games how to expand and gain 3D vision
- The concepts in this book will take your vision therapy to the next level
- Dr. Cook was a writer first, optometrist second so the book is very well written and enjoyable to read
- Dr. Cook wears cool hats
Many tests for vision explore how small we can see: What is the smallest letter you can read? What is the smallest amount of stereo that you can detect?
But Dr. Cook asks different questions: How big can you see? What is the shape of the sky?
His approach to 3D seeing is unique and has been foundational in my journey.
Dr. Cook understands the strabismic mind and how we see (and don’t see) the world unlike any other person I have ever learned from.
The book itself spends the first few chapters educating the reader on how the eyes and brain work together to create depth perception. Dr. Cook uses 75 different games and eye exercises to articulate points and truly educate the reader. The games have step by step instructions and push the reader to explore their vision and question the way they see the world.
The book comes with 3D glasses to use with several full page/color eye exercises and a link to also view them digitally.
Through concepts like “Responsibility and Control,” “Divided Attention,” and “ZOSA,” the reader learns that vision is an action word. It is something that we do…and if we can’t do it yet, we can learn how.
“Vision is not something that happens to us, but rather something we have learned to do. We see what we value. Routine eye exams value how little we can see; this book values how big we can see, the heights of perception rather than just the bottom of the eye chart.”
David Cook
I know $55 sounds expensive, and it is, but think of it as costing less than half of one vision therapy appointment and giving you more knowledge than you could gain in 50 visits. It’s a no brainer!
I am currently working towards getting a discount for my readers and becoming an affiliate, but as of now, you just have to purchase it from the OEPF website and pay big bucks for shipping and the book. Hopefully it will be available on amazon one day. If I am able to land a 10% off coupon, I will update this article for sure! Either way, the book is worth every penny (and I’m not getting paid to say that!).