DD is 8 and got glasses in November 2021. She has an eye condition which was picked up by the health visitors at her 10mo check and she’s been under a consultant ever since. She had surgery in December 2020 to try and help the condition (she’ll never get rid of it) and it helped a bit but not a lot, so the consultant said glasses was the next stage to try before another operation.
The prescription itself is tiny (+0.75 in each eye) but there’s a special coating on the lenses that apparently really helps the eye condition - I think it's the extra thin plus anti glare/reflect.
It’s worked, because I have a completely different child with glasses than without. No more silly accidents in the school playground, no more falling over as we walk to school or anywhere, no more having to take the car everywhere as she can be trusted to walk and look around and see things! She’s also gone up 6 bookbands at school and is well on her way to being pulled off the scheme completely. Her confidence has also improved as well, so much so she put herself forward for school council this year (didn’t get it but it’s a massive improvement for her to actually go for it!)
She was without her glasses for 2 weeks in the summer when they broke and she was back to falling constantly; lots of grazed knees and bruised hands from falls. She had a nasty accident at holiday club where she fell down 3 concrete steps trying to walk between rooms (held in a different school to hers with portacabin classrooms and she needed to go from one portacabin to the hall and fell down the stairs) she was thankfully ok but an ambulance had to be called and she spent the night in hospital for a concussion and a broken arm. Again since having her glasses she’s completely fine and never had a repeat.
We had a checkup for her condition earlier this week and her consultant said her eyes have improved since having the glasses that she will now have to “justify” such a small prescription to NHS England. I told her all about the falls and the difference in my DD since getting her glasses and the consultant said “I know, if it was up to me she’d keep themwe just have to hope they agree".
I am literally at the point that I will do anything to have my DD keep her glasses. She loves her glasses, she tucks them into the case at night and says goodnight to them, if anyone says anything negative about them she replies “But at least I can see”. She also looks incredibly smart and grown up in her glasses.
Is there anything I can do to make sure she keeps her glasses? Or is this going to be something else I’m going to have to pay for? I will pay for it privately if needed but I'm a single parent so it will mean it comes from somewhere else to pay. I know the glasses are expensive to the NHS because we take the prescription to an optician and we always have to wait as it goes to the NHS for approval (usually wait 3-4 weeks instead of the standard 2 for her glasses).