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Susan R Barry Ph.D.

About

Susan R. Barry, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus of Biological Sciences and Neuroscience at Mount Holyoke College. She had been cross-eyed and stereoblind since early infancy but learned to see in three dimensions at age 48 by retraining her visual system with optometric vision therapy. Her story was first described by Oliver Sacks in his New Yorker article, “Stereo Sue,” and then greatly expanded by Sue in her 2009 book, Fixing My Gaze: A Scientist's Journey Into Seeing in Three Dimensions. In 2021, Sue published a second book, Coming to Our Senses: A Boy Who Learned to See, A Girl Who Learned to Hear, and How We All Discover the World, which describes the stories of a man who gained sight and a woman who gained hearing, both in adolescence. Her third book, Dear Oliver: An Unexpected Friendship with Oliver Sacks, was published in 2024.

Books by Susan R Barry Ph.D.
Recent Posts
On Being a Subject of Oliver Sacks

: After I experienced a dramatic improvement in my vision, I was asked to participate in several scientific experiments. However, the investigator from whom I learned the most was Oliver Sacks.

: After I experienced a dramatic improvement in my vision, I was asked to participate in several scientific experiments. However, the investigator from whom I learned the most was Oliver Sacks.

Changing Minds

Can a few hours of watching a 3D movie overcome a lifetime of deficient stereovision? Just how plastic is the adult brain?

Can a few hours of watching a 3D movie overcome a lifetime of deficient stereovision? Just how plastic is the adult brain?

Vision, Space, and Thought

As I reread Rudolf Arnheim’s brilliant book, Visual Thinking, I wondered again how much our vision shapes our thinking. Anyone who has undergone a dramatic improvement in vision is in a special position to answer this question.

As I reread Rudolf Arnheim’s brilliant book, Visual Thinking, I wondered again how much our vision shapes our thinking. Anyone who has undergone a dramatic improvement in vision is in a special position to answer this question.

What Op Art Can Tell Us About Reading.

Why do some people hate to read? Op art paintings reveal the subtle fixational eye movements that may interfere with reading.

Why do some people hate to read? Op art paintings reveal the subtle fixational eye movements that may interfere with reading.