Could it be that SPECSAVERS are trained to understand Autism???

[mrsforgetful]

Just to praise specsavers .... thomas had his eyes tested yesterday and for the first time they used the 'hi-tech' machine to measure his vision.

dawned on me how potentialy difficult this was going to be when the technician started placing toms head into a kind of headrest and asked him to sit still. (at this point i simply mentioned that tom has Aspergers and i've noticed alot of left eye periferal vision lately....but i said no more than that)

after i'd said that he started asking thomas if he was comfortable- he checked many times that tom understood his requests etc.....now i suppose this was no different really than good customer care....however he then had to alter the chair height....he explained this in detail to tom BEFORE he even moved from his own chair.(this reminded me of how i 'ease' thomas into any new situations!)

Then to ice the cake it was right at the end when i was certain that either he was experienced in Asperger's in some way.....as we got up to leave the room tom was trying to spin something on the equiptment....and the technician said "there's alot of interesting equiptment in here tom , isn't there? " This sounds trivial as i type it here.....but at the time i was gobsmacked as EVERYWHERE else where we have been and tom has 'fiddled'...we have been met with the 'looks of dissaproval' and the "DON'T touch that" comments.

FINALLY later on we went to collect the glasses and the technician came over to tom and said "Hello Tom"......and tom smiled.....i was soooo impressed!

(interesting bit too was that tom was offered thin lenses....and before he could finish he asked for thick lenses! So he went and got some to show him and he WOULD NOT change his mind....i realised that the asperger's also means that tom is not influenced by peer pressure or 'cool looks'- so this was probably a shock to the people making the glasses that a 10 year old WANTED 'bottle bottom' glasses!!!

[marthamoo]

That's really good to read, MrsF, nice to know there are some people out there attuned to their customers' needs. Bless him and his bottle bottom glasses

[Hulababy]

That sounds like a great experience and a great optician. Not sure but might it be worth writing to them to mention how impressed you were? Could highlight how others could learn from them.

[frogs]

I think specsavers are generally very good. Whenever my dd1 (8) goes near a normal optician there's generally a solemn silence, followed by much muttering in side-rooms as they freak out over her high prescription -- honestly, you'd think the child had three heads!

dd's verdict on Specsavers: 'I like them, they make me feel normal'.

Also a vote for Moorfields Eye Hospital -- if you're in London and need an eye hospital referral, accept no substitute. The staff are so lovely you want to take them all home with you, and they make the children feel fantastic about themselves.

[scubawoman]

Dear of him with his glasses - and what a lovely man - you don't get many of them to the pound do you??!! The man in our local DIY shop let my DS mix up his own paint for his bedroom last week he was soooo chuffed!
My DS has a favourite army jacket my mum bought him which was 2 sizes too big and he refused to get changed, and army trousers which are now nearly half way up his calves, but we can't get any more to replace them. They go together a treat . It does make you laugh doesn't it - I listen to other mums bemoaning the fact that they have just had to fork out x amount of pounds on some trendy trainers, and there is me wishing if only!!!!

[katierocket]

that's lovely MrsF
I think hulababy is right, mention it to HQ, people like that shouldn't go unpraised.

[Davros]

Wow MrsF, he sounds wonderful. DId you get his phone number to recruit him as a babysitter? Reminds me of a funny story. A friends' NT son was getting glasses when he was quite young (3 or 4) and they'd been advised to let him help choose the frames to make him feel good about wearing them............ his favourites were the glitter crossed palm trees

[coppertop]

Davros!

He sounds lovely, MrsF. I'd write a nice letter to his bosses about how great he is - and hope they don't reward him by promoting him to a different branch. Unless of course you wanted to become his groupie and follow him to the Specsavers of his choice.....

[WiltshireGirl]

I don't know if Specsavers in Salisbury have an understanding, I have Aspbergers and some of the staff seem to get annoyed with me.

[WiltshireGirl]

Specsavers in Salisbury

[TwoLeftSocks]

Our local Specsavers were soooo very patient with our fidgety adhd eldest, especially when he just couldn't keep his head still. He had a really engaging conversation about the kit too.

[BoogleMcGroogle]

Spec savers were also great with my son who has verbal dyspraxia. Really patient and worked hard to communicate with him. As an added bonus, the optician in our local branch is really, really handsome.

[BastardBloodAndSand]

Ours was awful. They were dismissive and short tempered repeatedly despite me stating on booking my son has ASD and asking for an extended appointment. And as fall as kids go he's actually quite calm and will engage.

The final straw was when he'd finished after barely getting half way down the board, I insisted on a hospital referral at that point and his prescription went from a -1 to a minus 7. His meltdowns pretty much stopped too as he was so much less frustrated.

[Ouryve]

The Durham branch have always been great with my two. Ds2 only gets glasses fitted there, but they're always patient and helpful.

[BoogleMcGroogle]

I like that idea zzzzz :)