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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To tell the PE teacher DS needs his glasses and take it further.

55 replies

TravellingSpoon · 10/01/2020 16:53

DS attends a special school and they outsource their PE classes to a company.

On tuesday DS said that his new PE teacher said he should take his glasses off for PE. I believed DS because he has limited communication and doesnt have the ability to make up a story.

I wrote a note in the communication book to say that he needed to wear them all times. HE has an eye condition and a really strong prescription. He really is almost blind without them (not an exaggeration!)

Diary comes back today to say that because of safety he needs to take them off in case they are broken and hurt his eyes or face, or they could fall off when running (which I understand and will offer to get one of those string thingies to keep them on).

AIBU to drop the office an email and say that the chances are much higher that DS will walk into something and injure himself, which has happened before.

I dont go up to school at all so no chance of catching a teacher in the playground.

OP posts:

Notsurehow2handlethis · 10/01/2020 17:36

Hi. Healthcare Assistant at a special school here. I think the best way round this is to contact his optician and obtain a letter specifying his need, i.e. he requires his glasses for x, y & z, he needs to be seated in such and such and area of the class for best vision and so on. Keep a copy and provide one to his school. Then at his next annual review take the letter and get his glasses and need added to his EHCP. In the meantime it could also be a good idea to get spares so that if his glasses break at school you can take them in, a strap so they don't fall off during sports etc and if he doesnt already have them talk to his optician about options for frames and lenses. Is he seen by the Eye Clinic at the hospital at all?

KatharinaRosalie · 10/01/2020 17:37

THat's crazy. I don't have a strong prescription but I could never do sports without glasses (or lenses). I wouldn't see where I'm going!

Bluerussian · 10/01/2020 17:37

I thought you could buy unbreakable glasses, I know people who wore specs had them when I was at school.

Original poster

TravellingSpoon · 10/01/2020 17:38

We already have a couple of spare pairs. One in his bag and one at home.

Yes, he sees an Orthoptist every 6 months.

OP posts:

implantsandaDyson · 10/01/2020 17:41

My 8 year old has worn glasses for the past three years. She does PE, netball, healthy kids club (which appears to be circuits ), gaelic football, she's quite sporty and she's never been asked/told to take her glasses off. Her clubs have been taken in school by teachers and by outside providers.

CynthiaRothrock · 10/01/2020 17:42

Yanbu. My youngest has to keep her glasses on at all time. One eyeis slightly better than the other but taking them off Impares her ability to judge distance. She will walk into things and misjudge steps/curbs etc. We had. One over zealous pe teacher who made her remove her glasses. 1st time she came home with a head ache and threw up. I complained. Pe teacher didn't listen and told me I should buy sports goggles. The second time dd fell over and had to have stitches in her head. She now wears glasses.

happytoday73 · 10/01/2020 17:42

I have bad eye sight... Can't do anything without them so understand totally where you are coming from. Cheap prescription goggles for swimming have helped dramatically...

However....

Message below from my junior age children's football club re: glasses last year which may explain this

Dear Parent/ Guardian,

As most of you will now be aware, the FA sent out a directive regarding the wearing of glasses whilst playing football on the back of a serious injury sustained to a young boy from Manchester.

This now means that all junior leagues nationwide will be enforcing the rule which recommends the wearing of sports goggles. Many opticians across the UK have recognised that this will have a financial impact on many families whose children wear glasses and enjoy playing football. This is good news as it means that a lot of opticians are now offering deals to parents.....
........... I gather the boy unfortunately lost his eye sight in one eye. The referees arent meant to allow the games to go ahead... And I haven't seen a child in standard glasses for a while..

DeepDarkWoods · 10/01/2020 17:43

I don't think you are unreasonable but I don't think they are either. Both my children have scars on their eyebrows, bridge of nose and side of face from wearing glasses. Three of the injuries needed to be glued. Most of these are not even from sports.

Thescrewinthetuna · 10/01/2020 17:45

I would not be able to see a thing without my glasses. The risk of me injuring myself or another person would be much MUCH greater if I didn’t have my glasses on than the risk of my glasses breaking or injuring me. I’d speak to the school about it, they’re being ridiculous. If they insist I’d be withdrawing him from PE entirely because he needs his glasses.

Grumbley · 10/01/2020 17:46

How ridiculous, everyone at school wore them throughout primary school and in secondary- the only time I haven't worn my glasses is for swimming and when I played rugby at county level. I was in a mainstream school, but I would have been quite distressed at being told this at that age, hope you manage to get it sorted.

hobnobsaremyfavourite · 10/01/2020 17:47

Schools should not be asking children to take their glasses off for PE.
If you need to ask your local visual impairment education team for advice
The QTVI covering your school will tell the school in no uncertain terms that children need their glasses to see

VivaLeBeaver · 10/01/2020 17:51

I just googled sports Goggles to have a look out of interest. And the leading website don’t do them in my strength prescription. They seem to stop at -6. I need -10. Dd needs -12.

Possibly an actual opticians could do them but I suspect not, they can’t do me prescription sunglasses.

I don’t think people realise how bad eyesight can be and how debilitating it can be. I wouldn’t be able to do PE without my sight being corrected. I can’t recognise someone a few feet from me. I can’t even see my glasses to find them if I put them down.

Italiangreyhound · 10/01/2020 17:54

"Diary comes back today to say that because of safety he needs to take them off in case they are broken and hurt his eyes or face, or they could fall off when running (which I understand and will offer to get one of those string thingies to keep them on)."

Does this mean he never runs outside PE? Not in play time? Because I'd imagine there are chances for him to run outside PE.

I'd definitely write a letter and drop into a PE class and speak to the teacher if the letter doesn't get the desired result.

minipurr · 10/01/2020 17:55

One of mine wears glasses all the time- seems they have inherited my dreadful eyesight.

They also trampoline competitively. Wearing glasses. Silicone bands (Amazon) are really popular with the kids that bounce and trampoline. They dont fall off at all, and she has never injured herself to date.

barleysugar · 10/01/2020 17:56

You should be able to ask your ophthalmologist to write a letter to that effect, I used to do that all the time for patients when I worked for the NHS.

reefedsail · 10/01/2020 18:02

If you can afford them, the sports goggles (different to swimming goggles) are great. All the glasses wearers at DS's school are required to have them- they do play contact sports though.

If the school require your DS to have them, you could get a direct payment through his EHCP to pay for them.

sandycloud · 10/01/2020 18:04

My son plays in a football team and a boy in his league has lost an eye due to wearing glasses. They have now banned glasses. They have to wear lenses or goggles. Maybe it's in response to this.

Notsurehow2handlethis · 10/01/2020 18:21

In that case get a letter from the orthoptist, it's what I do for our pupils. Some teachers would rather have something official from a professional in case of accidents

mumwon · 10/01/2020 18:35

just read an interesting (American) article on eye safety - what they say is ALL children should wear safety glasses whether they need glasses for vision or not. As pp noted safety glasses may not be good enough for severe sight problems if they only go up to minus 7 -many people have much higher prescriptions & quite complex ones with vast differences between individual eyes - I would love to know (out of curiosity) whether safety goggles or ones for swimming could be more adaptable = most glasses these days are plastic lenses & bendable - I could also suggest under these circumstances, especially for sen schools that perhaps using soft sponge balls might work (I use to use them in my back garden so dc wouldn't damage neighbours plants, or neighbour! etc if the ball went over!) you can also get softer rubber balls - any opticians out there for their take on this?

Thethiniceofanewday · 10/01/2020 18:43

If he cannot see then there is no point in him doing PE. I was the opposite, my parents insisted I took my glasses off for PE in case I broke them. Even then I could only see about a foot in front of my face. No point going anything that involved catching a ball or hitting a ball ...

Mydogmylife · 10/01/2020 18:55

My eyesight is dreadful! When I was at school I had to take my glasses off for hockey- couldn't see a thing, and ended up with a ball in the face cos I didn't see I coming! No more hockey for me ( blessing in disguise, I hated it) and started to play badminton indoors as I was allowed specs for that.
Contact lenses opened up loads of other sport for as I got a bit older but unfortunately these don't suit everyone. Not everyone realises just how dependent you can be on specs. Good luck with a compromise solution

ThisIsMeOrIsIt · 10/01/2020 19:16

This is ridiculous. Many, many people have been wearing glasses for years with no injuries or accidents. I have taught for years in primary and never had/seen/heard of a pupil having an accident with their glasses. Non-glasses wearers don't seem to realise that the glasses are being worn because you can't see properly without them.

I wear glasses. I also wear hearing aids. Unless I'm swimming, I wear both as without them I can't see or hear properly.

By saying your son can't wear them in PE the school is discriminating against him. Fall off when he's running?! I go running regularly and my glasses have yet to fall off. I did a trampoline class yesterday and they didn't fall off! OP, definitely write a letter or get one from the optician stating that the glasses must be worn. If this is in their policy then it should be changed.

What is the world coming to?

ButtonandPickle19 · 10/01/2020 19:18

Get some sports goggles? They’re plastic, prescription and won’t fall off when running and won’t break?

Rosebel · 10/01/2020 19:23

Lots of children wear glasses and need to all the time. My daughter wears hers at kickboxing, it's never been an issue. I've never heard of anything so ridiculous.
I'd get a letter but I'd also phone the school and say he needs his glasses and it's non negotiable. Hopefully someone will speak to the person teaching and it will be resolved

Original poster

TravellingSpoon · 10/01/2020 21:50

The goggles look like a good idea, but I wonder if they would work because he has vastly different prescriptions in each eye (a 3 point difference).

contacts would be a non-starter. That would never work.

OP posts:

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