I've noticed on a photograph that my DD's eyes aren't quite right. Could someone advise me please?

[mummyloveslucy]

Hi, my nearly 9 year old daughter has SEN's and in a photo I took of her, she was being silly and went cross eyed. I noticed that only one eye went inwards though. I asked her to go cross eyed again and it was the same again. What could this be? I know that eyes always move together. Could it be a lazy eye? Should I make an appointment with the optician before she's due to go again (May, I think) Thanks.

I'm certainly no expert but I had a 'turn' in my eye as a child. It was corrected, but now i can make it go 'cross eyed'. Just the one though, not both.
So I don't think it's anything to worry about.

Thank you. When she's not doing this, her eyes look properly aligned. Probably just one of those things then.

Astigmatism? I doubt it's anything to worry about but why not take her for an appointment just to check it out? I had headaches for years because my eyesight wasn't regularly checked.

Take her to an optician :) Info on squints It's possibly nothing but worth getting checked

Thanks everyone. I'll make her an appointment.

Hi there

If you are having services / contact with local health authorities to do with your DDs SEN, then they would be a good place to start I would think to see about getting a possible squint checked out.

If not then personally I would talk to GP and get a referral from there, prob to a local children's eye service.

DD has had a squint / dodgy eyesight and is under the NHS local services, they have people called orthoptists who are experts in this stuff. They have been excellent. Personally I would go for that over an optician as they have maybe less expertise with childhood squint and they are accessible via GP / HV type people.

However having said that if it's only there when she's deliberately trying to go cross eyed I suspect it's nothing to worry about. Still no harm in getting it checked if you are feeling concerned

She was under a consultant re her SEN's, but we've refused to see her again as she was the rudest, most obnoxious person we've ever met! We haven't been offered another one yet. We'll go to the GP then. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Did your DD ever have a school eye test? They do a good range of preliminary checks for squints, short sightedness etc. My DS2 was referred on to a community eye clinic following his school check, for a suspected squint. Fortunately, he was just tired the day of the school check, and everything was fine at the repeated check. The district school nurse could probably refer you directly, and quickly to a local clinic.

Hope all is well with Lucy, and she is still enjoying her music. We 'spoke' about her interest in the piano a couple of times.

If your DD has SEN I would think it would be a good idea to go and have a chat to your GP anyway. She shouldn't be lacking support just because one consultant was awful. I know it is hard with doctors and referrals and stuff but still. Is your practice decent? Do you have a doc who knows you or DD? IME (area where there is no patient/GP relationship) if you go in and say I would like XYZ for DC they just write the referral. Don't know how it is in your area.

But really I think if I were you I would be going along to GP and saying DD has SEN xyz and also I am concerned about a possible squint and what are you going to do about it. It sounds stroppy I know but in our area if you don't ask you don't get, and I am learning...

HTH

If it is a squint then there is nothing to worry about just as long as you get it treated while she is young. Squints are usually treated with simple eye muscle exercises and patching, but if left they can lead to a 'lazy eye' which can be permanent or require an operation to correct. That said, squints usually appear before 7.

Save yourself some bother and take her to see the optician first - if you take her to the GP then they will almost always ask you to see the optician before they refer her for anything. Eye tests are free for under 16s.

I worked in optics until recently, so this is off the top of my head.

Maybe it's just the way she is using her eye muscle? I can put one eye inwards and one forward but can't explain how I do it!

My ds has just discovered he can move his right eye separately from his left. So he can turn just that eye in deliberately. He can do a normal squint too. I'm just trying not to react too much when he does it, as he thinks it's funny as everyone goes "eugh".