Suspect DS needs glasses (update in #15)

[MelissaTC]

M was missing half of the whiteboard in school. He was sitting in the back of the classroom. His teacher pulled me aside and told me that she noticed he was missing information from the board and suggested an eye appointment. I wasn't completely surprised because he had difficulty reading the chart at the ped office. My husband wears glasses and is near sighted as well. We went to an optometrist that also has some pediatric background. We all see her and she is wonderful. My favorite frames for M in terms of quality and style have been Nike. They can take a beating. He is currently on his third pair of Converse and he loves them.

[hwin708]

They'll do an eye exam and give him glasses, right? Is that all there is to it when child first gets glasses? Are there good/bad optometrists or do I just pick one?

If you like/trust your pediatrician, I usually start there for a recommendation for a good optometrist. There are finitely bad ones out there, just like any other doctor.

Now, if the child had more serious eye problems, like muscular disorders (which it doesn't sound like you are concerned about), then I would be scouring all possible sources to find the best of the best. But for basic vision problems, like near or far sighted - just a basic rec that the doctor is decent is all I would require.

[indigo99]

Thanks for the opinions! I'm going to make him an optometrist appointment after calling his pediatrician to see if they recommend anyone in particular. He has been reading for over a year so he shouldn't have any trouble with the tests. That's how I realized that he wasn't seeing things far away very well. I pointed out a US Mail truck, and he couldn't read the words on the back of it until we got really close. He said that the letters looked blue until we got close, and then they turned black.

[oneplustwo]

When one of my kids told me he was having a hard time seeing the whiteboard in class, I called his pediatrician, who referred us to a pediatric ophthalmologist. The guy was great, but I agree an optometrist is also a fine option. We've had great luck at For Eyes for kids' glasses ~ $29.99 for a pair, and in August they have back to school sales so the price drops to $19.99/pair. No issues or problems with these glasses at all, and we've been getting them for two different kids for a couple of years now.

[indigo99]

DS was talking to DH yesterday about how cartoons look blurry when he watches from across the room. Today we went to Visionworks as a walk-in since DH could go with us, and it was just $29 for the exam. First of all, I want to complain that the doctor actually told DS "no" when he tried to make out letters.

Dr.: Can you read anything on that line?
DS: It looks like the last letter could be an O.
Dr.: No, it isn't an O.

It reminded me of the nurse at the pediatrician who came in to give him a shot and said "Don't worry, honey. It doesn't hurt all that bad." Uggg! He wasn't really thinking it would hurt at all before that. I could see that DS wasn't responding as readily to the questions after being told No a few times so I told the Dr. that DS might respond better if he just said "OK" or "good" or "nice try" instead of "No". The Dr. didn't even acknowledge that I'd said anything.

Anyway, he said that DS has one eye that tends to turn out when he focuses on things near, but otherwise his vision is fine because he missed only one letter on the 20/20 line in the pre-test (which I could read perfectly fine). Is that basically all there is to it? If you can read this line from across the room then your vision is fine? I'm not sure how I thought they'd test for near or far sightedness, but it seems like it would be more complicated than seeing who can read one line from across the room.

The Dr. put him in a chair and asked him if he could read any letters in a line of text. DS guessed (incorrectly) a few times and then would tell him if different lenses made it better or worse. He never actually read a full line of text while in the exam room, and only guessed one letter in a line correctly once. The whole thing took maybe 5 minutes.

I had a vision test about ten years ago and actually got a prescription at the end so I would have something to compare to in the future (-.25 so just mildly nearsighted at the time). I have astigmatism, but the Dr told me then that I didn't really need glasses yet. I know it's gotten worse since then, but I still see better than DS so I guess it's pointless for me to get an exam unless I go to a real doctor who will do something more thorough. This place would obviously say that there's nothing wrong.

[PZMommy]

FWIW, my DS who is almost 6, kept complaining how things were blurry and he couldn't see the board, he needed glasses, etc. I took him to see my eye doctor. His exam sounds similar to what your son had, but my doctor seems nicer. He didn't need glasses either. He had perfect 20/20 vision. The test did not seem that involved, but I think if they can see okay, then the exam is much shorter than if they have problems.

[AnnieW625]

Unfortunately this is part of the reason it is very hard to diagnose children's eye issues. I would try another independent optometrist office and see what they say. It gets easier as they get to be 7 or 8, but even my DD1 who had worn glasses since just shy of 4 would still answer questions the way your son did and she needed glasses. Make sure the next place you take your son dialates his eyes. I would check with VSP Insurance for recs. or a local parents group or Yelp for pediatric optometrists. The first doctor could be right though so keep that in mind, there could be nothing wrong.

[Me and B]

You really need to go to a pediatric
Opthomologist. Someone that specializes in children's eye. They need to dialate the eyes and they can basically know from that what your child's vision is. When we look through the lense and say if a or b is better it is just the fine tuning part of the vision.

[DualvansMommy]

You really need to go to a pediatric
Opthomologist. Someone that specializes in children's eye. They need to dialate the eyes and they can basically know from that what your child's vision is. When we look through the lense and say if a or b is better it is just the fine tuning part of the vision.

That! Ds1 saw a pediatric Optbomologist after being flagged for something during his annual vision at his pediatric office. That was last summer, the specialist had him do the basic eye test, but also with different lenses and contrast test with his eyes. Last portion of the visit was dilating his eyes with fluid then waiting in wait room for a while before doing same exam again. My insurance covered it.


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[candaceb]

You really need to go to a pediatric
Opthomologist. Someone that specializes in children's eye. They need to dialate the eyes and they can basically know from that what your child's vision is. When we look through the lense and say if a or b is better it is just the fine tuning part of the vision.

DS has seen a pediatric ophthalmologist since he was 15 months, and she is so good at coming up with tricks to get him to comply. She also didn't start using letters on the eye chart until his last visit at 4.5 - until then, she had symbols. It is covered under our medical insurance with the normal specialist co-pay.