It was a big surprise when my husband and I found out our first child needed glasses as neither one of us wore them. He was 2 and a half when we realised one of his eyes kept turning inwards.
We didn't know where to go with this observation, so I went to my GP first and he recommended an eye test at the hospital which was some distance away. I had recently given birth to my daughter and, during a regular well-child check for both children, I happened to mention my son was referred to the hospital for an eye examination. The health visitor decided to take over the case and arranged an exam in local eye clinic. They did some tests on him using pictures rather than letters and took his baby-talk into . I was very impressed with all the tests and how nice they were to us - even when I had to breastfeed second child throughout the appointment.
We had a diagnosis within an hour: he was really longsighted and would probably need glasses for the rest of his life. To tell you the truth, I burst into tears. Now I don't know why; it was something about his precious face being obscured-and probably some new mother hormones to boot. I went slightly into denial as he could always see the small things in books, he was great at Where's Wally - how could he need glasses? They explained how flexible young eyes are and the sliding inwards was him compensating for his poor eyesight. It's strange now to think about the strong reaction as we are so proud of him and in the great scale of life, it's not that major.
He looked so cute in his tiny pair of glasses! We made such a fuss over how great they are - although I secretly still kept welling up. A remarkable thing happened when he got his glasses: his speech, which was quite delayed suddenly leapt on in bounds and improved. I often wonder if the two things were connected. We were so lucky that he enjoyed being able to see that he kept his glasses on his face with no problems. After about six months, the eye specialists recommended that he needed to wear an eye patch to help balance his eyes out a little bit. He didn’t mind wearing his eye patch while he watched TV.
Our strong-willed daughter was a very different case to her older brother. We thought she was clear of any visual impairments but by the time she was three and a half, we spotted the one her eyes turning inwards, as her brother’s had done a few years before.
I managed to take the news a LOT better this time! In the midst of her tantrumming, ‘Threenage’ years, she often threw her glasses across the room. She hated wearing them and often declared that “princesses don't have glasses!” So we pulled out all the stops - wall-charts, books where the main character more glasses, let her choose whichever over- the-top glasses she wanted, explanation as to why she needed glasses, playdates with older girls in glasses …you name it. We 'calmly' returned her glasses (and took full advantage of the NHS free repairs!).
Eventually consistency paid off and she started keeping them on her face. After a while, it was decided that she needed to wear a patch as well. Again, this was no easy task as she would not wear it for us at home at all. We ended up begging our daughter’s teacher to try to encourage her to wear the eye patch as she listen to the teacher’s instructions. This worked a treat and within a year, she no longer had to wear a patch. She's recently started the second round of wearing the eye patch, two years later. Her eyes have slipped back a little, but this time she's older and is handling it better, now that she understands the why she has to wear it.
It saddens me that my daughter doesn't think she's 'beautiful' in glasses. I've tried everything to show her how beauty is not just that standard look but comes in all shapes and forms, and is mainly from the inside. All her friends are envious of her splendid glasses and, shallow as it is, this knowledge helps her. Now she's the wise old age of 7, I think she may be beginning to like he unique look - Taylor Swift has been a big hit in her glasses!
So, my advice if you're concerned is to your local health visitor team, your GP, or even pop in to the local opticians to get it checked out as children's eye tests are free. The younger you catch possible visual impairments, the better. If your child does end up needing glasses and struggles to keep them on, keep consistent and persevering.
I'm now so proud of my bespectacled pair, and every night as I wipe the amazing amount of muck off the lenses, I have a little soppy smile.
If you are wondering whether or not your child needs glasses, The NHS has a checklist of signs to look out for. http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/eye-tests-for-children/Pages/Introduction.aspx#symptoms
If your child is refusing to wear his or her glasses, this advice from Dr J Margaret Woodhouse, Senior Lecturer School of Optometry & Vision Sciences at Cardiff University has advice on how to get your child to wear them: http://www.ssc.education.ed.ac.uk/courses/vi&multi/Encouragingglasses.pdf
If it’s recommended your child wears an eye patch, the American Academy of Pediatrics has comprehensive information about patching. http://www.aapos.org//conditions/21
