Originally Posted by
1964pandora
It makes me mad that a doctor would recommend that you get eyeglasses for a 4 year-old with 20/40 vision. My apologies to people who have followed that advice and I mean no disrespect, but there is no way I would follow that recommendation. Many children have 20/40 vision at that age. Your daughter's eyes are still developing and I would bet that she can see really well. I thought the article below was pretty informative about the eye exam industry. Also, if you can get a hold of the book, "How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor," by Robert Mendelsohn, (it should be in any library) he has a whole chapter on pediatric eye exams, etc. called, "Protecting your Child's Vision." Best of luck!
http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/d...ell-you-11382/
It's true that many children at that age have 20/40 vision that does not require glasses. BUT in general, children are naturally farsighted. As children grow, their eyes change shape and become less farsighted. However, the OP's child is nearsighted. Nearsightedness does not get better with age, but usually gets worse.
I read the article you linked to. I found the points about eye exams and the glasses to be very contrary to my experience, both for myself and for my son. My son has worn glasses since he was 2 for severe farsightedness and extreme astigmatism. He has some very complex vision problems, so I've done a fair amount of reseach on children's vision.
A child with 20/40 can probably function in everyday life resaonably well with out glasses. My son's best corrected vision (how he sees with glasses) is 20/50. For the most part he is able to function OK, not great, but OK. He does well for the most part. He is able to see most of his school materials and reads just about everything, although high contrast colors and fonts help a lot. He can't see most of the animals at the zoo. He can't see movies. He gets a lot of eyestrain and headaches.
Personally, I would get glasses for a nearsighted 4-year child with 20/40 vision, although I might not for a farsighted 4year old with the same visual acuity.
Gena
DS, age 11 and always amazing
“Autistics are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It's that you're destroying the peg." - Paul Collins, Not Even Wrong