DD to wear glasses- Please advise

[Dingle]

DD is 4.5 and has Down Syndrome. We have just been advised that she needs glasses and today we have been to the optician who put drops into her eyes and made up a prescription.

On looking at the "range" of glasses, they only had 1 style they thought suitable for her!!
These were in a blue which neither DH or myself really liked. They did advise the glasses will cost us £20 but they do come in another colour but they couldn't tell us what that colour was!!!

Can anyone give me some feedback on this please.

Also I would like to know about repairs too!! I can't imagine how these are going to remain intact. Will I have to continually paying for them to be repaired?

Please advise!!! Thanks.

[lou33]

ds2 has worn glasses since he was a year old, dingle, we havent had to do any repairs, and you should also qualify for a spare pair as she is a littlun

[DumbledoresGirl]

My son wears glasses and we have a choice of several frame designs that are free (I think the equivalent of the old NHS specs I grew up with). The lenses are free for children anyway.

Minor repairs are repaired free at the optician. My sons is always losing a screw (no jokes please) or bending one of the "arms". But even if he did break them completely, I am safe in the knowldege that a new frame would be free as long as we stuck to the free range.

Are you sure you can't go to another optician with a better range? Or is it because your dd is only 4 and not many frames fit her? I am sure you said she was big for her age so surely there cannot be that much difference between her face and my ds's (he was 8 when he first wore glasses).

[Dingle]

I have asked about a spare pair and they said I would have to pay for them. They were also rather vague about repairs, all they said was they have a repair service. Whether I have to pay for that wasn't clear. By that stage Amelia was cauing chaos with the displays and I just wanted out!!

[DumbledoresGirl]

I know the casuing chaos with the display scenario so well! Last wek, I took my 4 childen to pick up ds1's new pair of glasses, thinking we would be straight in and straight out. But we were kept waiting and I was flipping from one place to the other telling mine to sit up, be quiet, leave the displays alone...... You would think it would be in the optician's interests to get you in and out as quickly as possible when they see you come in with 4 monsters!

[DumbledoresGirl]

The other thing to do (not much use straightaway but something to remember later) is to keep old pairs of glasses. every time my ds1 has a check up his presciption has changed slightly so he has new glasses. I hang on to the old ones and then he can wear them in an emergency if the current pair break - he has only done this once and it worked OK.

[lou33]

i have never had to pay for any spare pair

[frogs]

Dd1 started wearing glasses at this age.

You don't have to buy glasses from the same place you had the eye test done -- ask them to give you a copy of the prescription (which they have to by law) and you can get them made up anywhere. Specsavers have quite a good range of kids glasses, although it varies practically by the week. Their kids range of frames is FREE with an NHS children's voucher.

Try a range of opticians, just to look at the frames, you can go without dd for an initial recce. For dd1's first pair I bought some fantastic frames from the upmarket optician where we'd had the initial eyetest done. I was feeling soppy, so paid out £45 for the cutest, most adorable pair I could find. Next time she needed new frames it turns out they'd made a pricing error -- the frames were actually meant to be £120!! I wouldn't go quite that far, but it is worth getting a pair you like, since it's hard enough getting used to seeing your favourite little face in glasses without them being actively hideous.

Wrt repairs, you may find your dd's prescription changes quite often at the start, so you may be getting a new pair at every eye test. Despite what opticians may tell you, you're not limited to one voucher per year/six months if an NHS practitioner says she needs new ones, that's what should be provided for you. I had memories of my glasses being constantly broken as a child, but dd1 wears hers pretty much every waking hour, and accidents have been rare it's usually when she gets hit in the fact by a football or some stupid child grabs her glasses and runs off with them that they get bent. Technology has improved a lot recently, and they can generally be bent back into shape. Get the ones with sprung frames -- that's where you pull the arms beyond 90 degrees and they spring back. Lots of adult frames have that too now. You can even get ones that are fully flexible, but they will probably be more expensive.

hth

[Jasnem]

I'd definitely check out another optician. My dd has had glasses since she was 5, and had free repairs, and when she lost them, a replacement pair. The lost ones were found, all bent on he school field, and later bent back into shape. Her prescription changed almost every visit for the first year (3 monthly) and we never paid, even for the extra pair. They always gave the choice of new lenses in the old frames or new frames, too.

She has always had the free ones. I know yu can buy more expensive ones, but they aren't really necessary - they aren't like the old nhs ones I had.

[Blandmum]

dd has her test and frames and lenses for free. This has included several repairs!

I'm amazed that you have been asked to pay. Specsavers and vision express both do free designer frames for kids. Dd has a rather fab BMX pair (she is a tomboy!) These are most definatly *not8 like the old NHS frames that I remember as a child.

Ask around....I'm sure you can get a better deal than £20

[lou33]

the nhs ones we get ds2 are really nice, and personally i dont see the point in paying for them at that age, but i am tight

[Seona1973]

my 2 1/2 year old has had glasses for a year - we got them for free at optical express. She is now on her 3rd pair as the others have ended up bent, with scratches or slightly cracked (dont know what she gets up to!!). I have always had a free replacement - with new frames each time.

[Dingle]

Thank you everyone, some really good advice there and a bit of info I can use as ammunition to argue a point if necessary. I will look around at other opticians before I accept what I have been offered.

If the form I have the actual prescription? It's a GOS2 form with the NHS logo on it. So as long as I have that, can I claim Amelia's "voucher" where ever I choose?

DumbledoresGirl- Amelia is BIG for her age is probably just above the height of your average 4 year old. But she is off the height chart for a girl of her age with DS! So surely her size shouldn't be an issue. They did mention about that design being particuarly suitable to keep in place over her tiny little button nose!

Thank you everyone.

[DumbledoresGirl]

I don;t think the from you are referring to is the prescription Dingle. Before we moved, the optician we went to always gave you your prescription written on a card because they never assumed you would be buying your glasses with them. It looked quite different from the NHS form which is, I think, the voucher you get entitling your dd to free lenses. I might be wrong though. Anyone else know for sure?

[lucykate]

see \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=1700&threadid=171660&stamp=060509121418\here}

and \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=138&threadid=171533&stamp=060510092919\here}

2 threads that might help

[poppiesinaline]

Hi Dingle! Have been looking for you! >> have you ordered your A5 envelopes and bags yet?

Back to subject. My DS1 wears glasses. First wore them when he was 4. You will get them free. Lenses are free for kids and frames. If you want the 'bendy' frames then you have to pay for them. We do now buy DS1 those (hes 9 now) because we were back to the opticians every 2 weeks to get his glasses repaired with the NHS ones. The bendy ones cost us £90 and last him about a year. If they do need 'tweaking' or mending then its free.

about the spare set, we were also told we would have to pay for a spare set. So we keep the old ones as spare. With the first pair of glasses he had, they broke so often that within a few months he needed a new pair anyway. The optician ordered a new pair and mended the old pair for us (free of charge) so we could use them as spares.

[cadbury]

Hi Dingle, I've been looking for you too - you ok? Have you changed your mobile number? Didn't hear from you about Wednesday.

Bet your dd will look very cute with her specs

[Dingle]

Oh Cadders!!!!Should I have been somewhere??? Having a hectic week with hopsital appointments and opticians and having a head like a sieve really doesn't help!! Haven't changed mobile, but I don't use it much, it's in a case on my purse...probably with unread messages on then!!!

So sorry!!!!I've not been around much recently. Have been so shattered and drained with it all, I've just been curling up on the settee and falling asleep of an evening!!

Feeling much more positive now though. I've started training for the race for Life and hopefully it will give me a bit of a boost.

How are things with you honey!!?

[poppiesinaline]

Do you feel in demand Dingle? you are very popular today!! :)

[cadbury]

Hi, goodness, you have been busy. Where are you finding the time to run?

We had arranged to meet for coffee / breakfast on Wednesday but I assumed, as I hadn't heard back from you or seen you around here that you wouldn't be able to make it. I had to be in the village anyway that morning so waited for a little while but not for long. Don't worry.

Things ok here. Fairly hectic but I guess that's just normal. I can't remember what slow pace feels like.

[cadbury]

Hi poppies!

[Dingle]

Got my first real relaxed sit down of the day-making the most of it while the kiddies are playing together nicely! been at a Downs Syndrome meeting this morning..looks like we have to become an independant charity in our own right, on top of that we are joining forces with other DS charities in Kent to produce a Kentwide group. Muggins is treasurer still!! Because we have received Lottery funding last year we have to get our act together a get the resource library in place soon. So need to find time to make up a list of books, CD-roms, videos, learning resources etc for the group.

Everything is happening at once- as usual.Have a bit of crafting to do for JM..etc..and constant crafting/fundraising/therapies. I am just looking forward to September in the hope that Amelia can manage a full day at school with the minimal support on offer!

Don't like being in demand!! LOL!! I hate being stretched so far and not being able to give my best or let people down, which is what has happened. Sorry Cadders.

Poppies - will check email now!

[poppiesinaline]

Hi Cadbury. Hope you're well. :)

[cadbury]

Oh bless you. You are in demand because you are good at so many things but . . . and I know this will fall on deaf ears . . . you must try to find some breathing time too - literally, time to sit in a quiet room, and concentrate on breathing in and out for a while. You know I worry about you and you know I'm always around if you want to offload or chat. Take care, xxxxxxx