6yo very short sighted - advice needed please

[SingingMummy]

I'm hoping for a bit of advice, tips and perhaps reassurance on this one.
My 6yo DS has worn glasses for short sight since he was 3.5yo. His sight has deteriorated rapidly and his prescription is now -5.5 and -6.5. I am worried sick and terrified of what this might mean long term. He is being referred to an eye hospital for further checks and to an orthoptic doctor. Dh and I are both short sighted but we didn't need glasses till our teens and our prescriptions are relatively small (-1.25 to -5.5) I have now terrified myself by reading all sorts of things about deteriorating eyesight on the internet. Can anyone give me any reassurance? Also, any tips for dealing with it? (ideas I have read for limiting the progression of short sight include lots of time outside rather than close work, eye exercises, contact lenses for small children, periods each day not wearing glasses and making the eyes work harder). Does any of this make the slightest difference?
Just to be clear I have no problem with glasses or contacts - have worn both myself for nearly 25 years, and so does DH)and DS wears his glasses very sensibly and without fuss. It's the rapid progression of the short sight, and the fact that he's so young, that scares me.
Also, please forgive me if you think this is an over reaction. My DD has special needs (including global development delay, hearing loss, long sight and a squint, learning difficulties, a heart condition, and no speech at age 3). She is a darling but I am emotionally, physically and mentally worn out fighting for her, and I don't know how much more bad news about my children I can take.
BTW DS is a bright, happy good natured child who doesn't appear to have any health problems apart from the shortsight. Can anyone help??
Thank you

Not sure about advice but my brothers and me have been very short sighted since we were young. My mother was born blind in one eye and a very weak left eye on which she has had numerous operations. She also had problems with the blind eye and now has a false onw (which I find gross but she is very proud of!) But she has managed exceedingly well with the little sight she has including playing music and bringing all of us 5 up.
I am -4.5 now and have been SS for years since I was about 10 and it hasnt really deteriorated that much at all tbh during the past 10-20 years. So it doesnt necessarily mean it will get a lot worse. Are you short sighted yourself? Was he premature?

My dd had -6 at about that age, and still does, though there have been minor variations in her prescription as we go along (up then down again). But the shortsightedness hasn't really changed that much since she was in about Y1 or Y2 (she's now in Y11, lol).

She had patching for a while as well, and has some other slightly odd things going on with her sight that make student optometrists go 'aaah' and 'oooh'.

It's fine, really. She is a teenager now and wears contact lenses most of the time. There are no actual problems with her vision, despite the underlying funny stuff.

If you are concerned, share your worries with a specialist at an eye hospital, as they will have seen it all before and are likely to be much calmer about it. With a high short-sight prescription there may be a case for avoiding taking up eg. serious competitive rugby, but again discuss with a specialist. There's nothing like talking to a proper eye doctor at the hospital to make you feel normal again -- remember that most high street opticians are not used to dealing with high prescriptions in children, or indeed anything that isn't yer bog-standard short/long-sightedness, and tend to over-react to it. This is a function of their inexperience, not the seriousness of the problem.

If the eye hospital discharge him (which is likely, if there are no other problems) try and wheedle out of them a recommendation for a good opticians to go to (they're not supposed to do this, but you may be able to persuade them to drop hints). Taht way you may avoid the syndrome where the hospital discharge you, but 6 months later the optician freaks out, refers you to the hospital, who discharge you again (cos they're busy dealing with people who have actual proper problems) and 6 months later the optician freak out again... Can you tell we've been there, done that? If you're in or around central London, CAT me and I can recommend ours.

Hi there, my DD has been short-sighted since 2yo, her power was very high too, at 4.5 in the right eye and 8.5 in the left. Like Larissa's dd, there have been minor variations in her prescription over the years, both up then down again, but very small adjustments, now her right eye is 5.25 and her left eye is 7.5. Like you, I too was extremely upset when she was first diagnosed with the very high power, because she was so young, and because I had SS from the age of 8, but I started at a much lower range than her at maybe 3 or 4, and it kept going up each year, until it is now 9. So I was worried she would hit 10 before she was a teenager. In fact I was so unhappy about it, I saw 3 different eye doctors before I was ok.

But anyway, so far, her eyesight has not really deteriorated much since then. And a friend of mine who also had an eyesight of 9 as a child, said that her eyesight actually improved as she got older!

Also we haven't really limited her usage of tv or games consoles, although I wanted to initially, as our eye doctor told us they are not really the cause of short-sightedness. Although she says to avoid reading or doing anything in a moving vehicle as it puts stress on the eyes. In any case, I have a friend whose eyesight is past 10, and I have been assured that they do do lenses up to a certain point beyond 10. (I can't remember exactly up to what point) and our paediatrician says there is also laser (altho I'm a bit squeamish and nervous about that option).

Larissa, at what age did your dd start wearing contacts? I'd love to get my dd started on that but obviously will have to wait til she can be responsible about it.

sorry i forgot to mention dd is now 6, will be 7 in feb