Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

Original poster

Daughter's eye test?

19 replies

MaryShoppins · 15/02/2013 23:31

My daughter attended the opticians today for her first test. She's desperate for glasses! Can she 'cheat' her eye test? How would they be sure?

I realise this is not really an aibu. Was just hoping for a quick response!

OP posts:

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 15/02/2013 23:33

They can't be "sure" if she actively fibs I don't think, but I expect they've done enough tests over the years to have a suspicion. It's not just the letters on the chart, I think they select ones that particular sight problems show up/see as other ones iykwim, so random "crap" in her answers would give her away.
If all else fails, could you get her some frames with plain glass in, so she can have glasses without them affecting her sight? If she hankers after them that badly...

bumpybecky · 15/02/2013 23:35

the optician caught out dd3 when she lied in her eye test, aged about 6!

dd3 was desperate for glasses and cried when he said she couldn't have any

Catchingmockingbirds · 15/02/2013 23:35

Why is she desperate for glasses? She can just get fashion glasses (glasses with plain lenses, no prescription) instead of tricking an optician.

coppertop · 15/02/2013 23:38

I took two of mine for an eye test. One needed glasses and the other just wished that they did. The optician spotted the faked answers very quickly.

The one who needed glasses gave very consistent answers when the optician tried out different lenses on them. The faker just pretended not to be able to see, no matter what the optician did. :o

sausagesandwich34 · 15/02/2013 23:42

dd lied that she couldn't read the cello music as it was too small, then tried to cheat the eye test by saying she couldn't see certain letter -fooled the junior optician but she was worried about the sudden deterioration ( i have eye problems so DCs have checks every 12 months) and got a more experienced optician to check her out

turns out she just found reading music hard but didn't want to say, and she didn't get glasses

I do know a child that got glasses, had a routine sight test at school aged 6, no issues, at 7 she was complaining of headaches and asking to stay off school
mother took her for an eyetest to see if that was the cause of the headaches and walked away with a very strong prescription

when you saw her in her glasses she was obviously looking over the top of them

12 weeks later follow up appointment, her eyes had miraculously improved!

LondonInHighHeeledBoots · 15/02/2013 23:43

Tried it when I was 6. Failed miserably, then ended up needing glasses anyway from 7, the shine wore off that pretty quickly!

Don't let her cheat, it won't work, and if it does, a, you're taking an NHS voucher for the glasses that isn't needed, and b, it will damage her eyes. And she'll get bored of them in a few weeks and you'll be stuck with a pair of glasses and an awkward conversation with the opticians on how her eyes magically 'healed' when she goes in for her next checkup.

If she wants glasses, get her fashion ones with plain lenses. How old is she?

Or is this a you think sh might have cheated, is it likely she got away with it question? Cos she really won't have, most kids want glasses for a bit at around the time of their first eye tests, and most of them try it. Your average child is NOT a master spy, whatever they may think!

RobinSparkles · 15/02/2013 23:49

Nope, they can't cheat, well they can on the initial test I guess but they'll get found out before it is decided whether they need glasses, or not. My DD, then aged 4, was called back for another eye test as she failed the one at school. I went with her to the clinic and was convinced that she was cheating as she also really wanted glasses.

She was referred to the Opthalmatrician (?) who uses different lenses and light to see the reactions your eye makes (I think) which tells them for certain whether people need glasses without making them read letters etc. It makes sense really - you see babies with glasses and they can't read, iykwim.

She does actually need glasses and has been wearing them since may. The man was able to show me, using lenses in front of my eyes, what her sight is actually like. I felt really bad that I thought she was cheating! She is long sighted and one of her eyes is rugby ball shaped.

She bloody hates wearing her glasses now though!

yaimee · 16/02/2013 00:16

I think I did when I was about 10, although maybe o didn't I wear glasses now!
I think the opticians know what kinds of mistakes are common, or expect to see certain patterns, but I have no idea really!
Sorry, what a useless non reply that was!

SirBoobAlot · 16/02/2013 00:18

I poked myself in the eye for an hour before my eye test aged eight as all my friends had glasses and I didn't

They'll know.

Original poster

MaryShoppins · 16/02/2013 00:21

Thanks for your replies.

I wouldn't 'allow' her to cheat, nor would I let her get glasses if I thought she didn't need them. The reason she went to the opticians was for a routine eye test, not because she asked me for glasses. However, I know she has a strong desire to wear glasses like her best friend.

She was making ridiculous suggestions I.e. "right now I can't even see mummy!" But I could see the optician did extensive testing with a range of lenses. My worry was that she was fibbing during the letter test. As a parent I suspect she was having the optician on, but the optician says she does need glasses. They must have other tricks up their sleeve surely? And not just take the child's word?....

OP posts:

Original poster

MaryShoppins · 16/02/2013 00:22

She's five by the way

OP posts:

yaimee · 16/02/2013 00:32

I think during the letter test there will be common mistakes or patterns in the mistakes that an optician would notice.
Eg it would be hard to mistake a z for an h but perhaps not an o for a p. This is probably too subtle for a 5yo to fake. Have a word with the optician if you're worried!

Startail · 16/02/2013 00:35

I don't think a five year old could.

I strongly suspect DD2 messed up her prescription by being too helpful and saying yes to everything.

She was forever forgetting to put that pair of glasses on, her new ones she always wears, I think they work somewhat better.

CodandLobster · 16/02/2013 09:35

No, she won't be able to fool them.

Some of the tests, at that age especially, are objective, ie requiring no input from the patient. You can see more or less what the prescription is by shining a light into the eyes and holding up a series of lenses.

Also the child doesn't Know when to pretend and when not to and that soon becomes obvious, ie they say it makes the letters look better whenever you put another lens in front of their eye, although you may be actually reducing the power IYSWIM.

It would always be a good idea to subtly let the optician know that you thought your child may lie though!

Floggingmolly · 16/02/2013 09:52

Why not just get her glasses with plain lenses until the novelty wears off? (It will).

Original poster

MaryShoppins · 16/02/2013 11:23

Hi Floggingmolly, the thing is, she had to have her eye test as routine anyway. The issue for me, was do the opticians have the ability to fish out the children who are telling fibs. Is their technology able to override what the child says they can/can't see? But lots of you have answered my question and put my mind at ease!

I know she was exaggerating hugely, but that's not to say she doesn't genuinely need glasses! I just needed that reassurance.

OP posts:

LRDtheFeministDragon · 16/02/2013 12:48

My optician told me that you are actually only asking most of the questions about what they can see for effect - you can often tell by the way the pupil responds and the eyes move, whether someone can see something or not. I don't know if that's true for every kind of eye test but I know it's true for some of them.

Jenny70 · 16/02/2013 12:57

Our optician definitely does a cheat test.. when putting lenses together asks is it clearer like this-or this. Does 10+ lenses to work out required lens for each eye, and would be hard to cheat & be consistent, then he does a +lens & -lens (ie zero) as final cheat test.

Said he gets lots of kids that want glasses!

LIZS · 16/02/2013 12:59

did they prescribe any ? Can you ask for a retest to corroborate first findings if so?

Flip