children's eye tests / astigmatism? anyone know anything about either?!

[Abelia]

Is children's eyesight still routinely screened in school and at what age?

I think my son may have astigmatism (am I right in this - ie if he looks straight ahead one eye is looking ahead but the other is slightly off centre).

Should I take him to the optician or is this a normal childhood thing which will resolve itself / be picked up at screening? He starts Reception in Sept.

[DoodleAlley]

Ds's lazy eyelid got picked up by dr at around one and he now gets periodic checks at eye clinic in childrens hospital but I don't know what would have happened if he was older.

Sorry I can't help more

[Sirzy]

I would take him to get checked. Ds was referred by the hv at 8 weeks x

[Seona1973]

sounds like a squint to me. Either take him to an optician or get a referral through the hv/gp to the orthoptist at your local hospital.

[concretefeet]

Agree with Seona .
Book with an optician asap and they will refer to the hospital eye clinic orthoptist if it is.

[verybusyspider]

How old is ds? if at school I'm another one to recommend you take him to optician - our school do routine eye check which picked up nothing, optician thinks our ds needs glasses as one eye 20:20 and one eye slightly short slighted, he has another eye test this week. Not sure what school test involved but opticians best place to pick up subtlies of eye sight

[twinklytoes]

we're just getting the routine eye tests - 3rd term of reception. DD won't be going to them as we've taken her to the optician already.

having just been to hospital with DS (3) and squint diagnosed, I would either see an optician (though ours prefer them to know their letters) or get your Health Visitor to refer you to hospital (we did this as DS much younger and optician wouldn't touch him).

during our visit we were told that you basically have until the age of 7 till deal with a squint.

[peaky123]

hi, an astigmatism is to do with the prescription in your spectacles, and not something you can see by looking at somebody.
A strabismus or ''squint'' is when one eye is not looking at the target, deviated away from center. This can sometimes be obvious, sometimes subtle, there constantly or just when tired.
Schools do vision screening in reception, but wouldnt be looking for anything other than poor vision in one or both eyes..
Take them to an opticians, they can use pictures or letter matching if not confident with capital letters.
As a previous poster said, referral and prompt treatment are important

[NoodlesMam]

Astigmatism is where the eye is more rugby ball shaped rather than round football shaped. I have Astigmatism but don't need glasses however my SIL has astigmatism and does need glasses. If one eye is off centre I would suspect a squint and that should be seen to asap. I agree with the other posters, get a prompt referral from the GP rather than wait for screening.

[mossip]

My DD has this. Particularly noticeable in photos where there would be only one red eye. We were referred by GP to orthoptist at hospital. GP couldn't see it, but referred us anyway. DD is very long sighted and wears glasses now. They use eye drops to dilate the pupils and they can do a full assessment. It took 3 months to get an appointment at hospital, so I would be down the GPs asap to get him starting treatment before starting school.