To feel frustrated about opticians?

[wonderingagain21]

My dd14 has always been very long sighted +8 to +9 in both eyes. Despite frequent eye tests to ensure up to date prescription, she still has some limitations at school with both close work &distance. School want to make plan to ensure she has all the help she needs & asked me to get advice from optician on what assistance she might need. The optician seemed completely perplexed and insisted that she shouldn't be having any problems. AIBU to think that being able to read letters on on eye chart at 3m does not mean you have perfectly corrected vision???

The difficulty is probably that on the chart at the opticians I assume your daughter corrected for her prescription has normal 20/20 or 6/6 visual acuity, unless she has a history of a lazy eye,squint or other hospital orthoptics treated problems. I am a very strong minus prescription, above your daughters, but never had any adjustment at school. My corrected visual acuity was classed as within normal, although it is perhaps a little poorer than others when I self compared in class, but it certainly never hindered me academically. If you are saying she has trouble seeing a protractor or graph paper that is worrying and I would ask for referral to the orthoptist at the hospital eye clinic, as if she again has normal N5 vision she should see this. If your optician is doing the normal NHS sight test and you want details of her visual acuity and if it does fall below the age accepted normals or she has other problems with the way her eyes work together then this is reasonable to ask for a report on this. Beyond this then if what you are asking in a detailed report and detail into specific adjustments you will need to see a specialist privately and pay for a report. This isn't in the boundaries of an NHS sight test. There are opticians who specialise in certain areas and it might be worth speaking to the College of Optometrists for advice on this. I hope you get help for your daughter.

Thank you for your advice. She was patched for year & years so that still affects her maybe. I will get some more specialist advice.