Lucia Wilson is the author of Face to Face with Strabismus, created with photographer, Francesca Cesari and in collaboration with Dr Silvia Riva, Prof. Saurabh Jain and Dr Giovanni Battista Marcon. Lucia is also the writer of Reggie Ruby, the Pirate of the Trees, a children’s book featuring children with strabismus, positively depicted, on a mission to save the urban forest. She has written other children’s books, all featuring social themes such as homelessness and disability.
Lucia is an independent campaigner and is committed to raising the profile of strabismus with a view to improving support and care for strabismus sufferers. Having suffered with strabismus herself, she can speak from lived experience of the difficulties of coping with this poorly understood eye condition.
The creation of this website, to support strabismus patients, fulfils a long-held ambition shared with Prof Jain and Dr Riva to help to fill a gap in the care of strabismus patient beyond the hospital setting. The team agrees that strabismus can have a serious, negative impact on quality of life for strabismus sufferers and therefore Phase One of this site will concentrate on shining a spotlight on the psycho-social issues patients face and will seek to highlight routes to solutions, information and support.
Books re: strabismus by Lucia Wilson
Face to Face with Strabismus is an exploration of this poorly understood eye condition. Strabismus (which means to have misaligned eyes) is often dismissed – even within the medical community – as a cosmetic problem which has resulted in inadequate support and unnecessary suffering for patients. Some patients have been incorrectly informed that the condition is incurable.
Through the patient interviews and photographic portraits, Lucia and Francesca have offered insight into the lived experience of strabismus sufferers. Consultant Ophthalmologists, Dr Giovanni Battista Marcon (in Italy) and Mr Saurabh Jain (in the UK), experts in the treatment of strabismus, have shared their knowledge and observations whilst also examining the reasons why strabismus patients are not getting the support and care that they should.
The book also considers the topic of self-esteem and self-image, how some patients can suffer with poor self-image and ridicule in social situations because of their misaligned eyes. Psychologist and Lecturer, Dr Silvia Riva, has provided illuminating commentary through her study of the patient interviews and in her discussions with Francesca and Lucia on the impact of living with strabismus and the wider theme of what we see in the mirror when we are face to face with our own reflection.
Francesca Cesari, photographer, and Lucia Wilson, writer, are the co-creators of the Face to Face project. Lucia is a former strabismus patient.
Photo of Lucia (c) Francesca Cesari and Lucia Wilson
The diptych of Lucia above is based on the composite she created out of sheer frustration; she wanted to make others understand what it was like living every day with diplopia caused by strabismus. The composite used an original photograph by Francesca Cesari who then created the high quality finished diptych which features in the book and was chosen by The Ophthalmologist magazine as Image of the Month in 2024.
Reggie da Silva loves trees, just like his dad, Laurence.
Reggie’s favourite tree is the giant oak outside his bedroom window; in the branches of this tree is his boat-treehouse where Reggie da Silva becomes Reggie Ruby, the pirate of the trees!
One day, Reggie notices that instead of seeing one oak tree in his garden, he can see two trees sometimes. His mum and dad decide to take him to see an eye doctor. At the hospital, Reggie meets a girl called Alice and she has an eye problem, too, a squint (which is also called strabismus).
Reggie wants to talk more to Alice, but there isn’t time. In fact, before too long, Reggie will meet Alice again, to discuss a quite different problem; can Reggie help to save the urban forest? You can listen to a reading of the opening pages on youtube.
This book presents two children with strabismus in a positive way. You can find out more about Lucia’s writing at her website http://www.luciawilson.co.uk