orthoptist

[lucy1001]

Hi just wanted a bit of advice please. My 5 year old ds failed his school eye check so the optician has referred him to see am orthoptist. Does anyone know if his is pretty normal to be referred. Thank you

dd was under orthoptist care at the local hospital for 18 months till the age of 7 when she got discharged into the care of the optician instead. The orthoptist will do a more in depth eye examination probably involving eye drops that make the pupils dilate so they can check the back of the eye and assess the need for a glasses prescription. It is normal to be referred if there are issues picked up at the school screening check so dont worry.

from 18 months that should say - she has worn glasses from 18 months old and still has them age 9 as she is long sighted

thank you

DS (age 6 at the time) was referred by our optician via the GP as he seemed to have trouble switching between close-up and distance focusing. She tested him very thoroughly, using all sorts of things that I have never seen an optician do and I've been wearing glasses since I was 6. He didn't need glasses but she gave us exercises to do daily. He is now 7 and has just been discharged from the orthoptist as his focusing is fine now.
Best place to go in my opinion and the orthoptist was LOVELY.

We are in the same boat. My DS2 (age 5) has been referred because of 'reduced binocular vision'. I am not too worried, although a bit daunted by the idea of a 3 hour appointment with him!

Ds saw the orthoptist every 8 weeks from the age of 6 months. After two operations, eye patches and eye exercises at nearly 8yo he has recently been discharged for good. The only reason he got referred at such a young age was because I used to work in that profession and knew what was wrong with him. Most problems don't get picked up until school and orthoptists do school visits to pick up on these. Orthoptists are more in depth than opticians and do more physical intervention. Opticians can only prescribe lenses for specs. Orthoptists will deal with other problems relating to the eyes that can't be dealt with by spectacles.

Ds2 was like this. he had one weak eye which wouldn't focus properly. no obvious squint or anything like that. It's just the other eye was doing all the work.
He was prescribed glasses and his eyes have improved to the point that he only really needs them for reading or screen use. He prefers to wear them for everything except sport as he says his eyes ache otherwise

Thank you everyone. Hopefully not too bad as he is never complained of headaches orsaid can't see. He is very excited at idea of glasses. Glad to hear mot peoples LOs sight seems to have improved. Hope it id ok for you Acebaby- I didn't realise appointment was so long!

From the letter, I think it is several short appointments/examinations with a lot of waiting. Good luck! I'll come back to the thread and let you know how we get on

Thank you will update you too!

Hi Lucy,

We were in the same position a couple of years ago, starting with the pre-school eye test. DS1 had/has one eye which is much longer sighted than the other, so he has been having periods of patching and periods of time off with appointments every 2-3 months. Apparently there is a window up to about 7 years of age when patching can be used to balance up the eyes. It's certainly working for DS1, although he now has to wear glasses.

I'd agree with acebaby that there is often a lot of waiting, so go prepared!