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Original poster

DD to wear glasses- Please advise

55 replies

Dingle · 10/05/2006 18:33

DD is 4.5 and has Down Syndrome. We have just been advised that she needs glasses and today we have been to the optician who put drops into her eyes and made up a prescription.

On looking at the "range" of glasses, they only had 1 style they thought suitable for her!!Shock
These were in a blue which neither DH or myself really liked. They did advise the glasses will cost us £20 but they do come in another colour but they couldn't tell us what that colour was!!!

Can anyone give me some feedback on this please.

Also I would like to know about repairs too!! I can't imagine how these are going to remain intact. Will I have to continually paying for them to be repaired?

Please advise!!! Thanks.

OP posts:
poppiesinaline · 11/05/2006 18:06

Dingle! You have such a lot on your plate! I think I would be going dizzy if that was me! Cadbury is right. You must take care of yourself otherwise you will be no good to anyone. :(

sparkler1 · 11/05/2006 18:10

My dd is 4 and she was told yesterday at a routine eye check that she needs glasses too. I shall read through this thread with interest. We have chosen a pair of glasses from the FREE range. They are a lovely pink pair, we now have to wait for five days for them to be available. Don't know about the situation with a spare pair. I will enquire.

Charlene1 · 12/05/2006 01:34

My DS was prescribed glasses by a hospital/NHS optician and she stated 2 pairs on the prescription, as his eyes were so bad. that way if he broke one, he could wear the others. We have "Beano" ones and a normal pair from Specsavers - both free. Repairs are free too. They will try and sell you "extras" eg coatings etc, but you don't have to have them. One niggle - I have found that their databases aren't linked between branches and they have no idea how to keep records, so if you go to a different branch you have to stand their explaining all your history and details to them all over again. Oh, metal ones with plastic lenses and bendy arms are best for accidents!! Less damage to child and glasses!

kizzypie · 12/05/2006 17:20

hi, my dd has worn glasses since she was 2, shes now 8. shes had several pairs broken /repaired/ lost. Last year she was invited to get an extra check up at the hospital. This was carried out by a specialist who checked the opticians had been giving her the right spectacles etc. He told me that one of the signatures on the nhs form you sign to get the voucher has something to do with agreeing to this extra appointment where the nhs are checking that opticians are actually prescribing and claiming for the correct prescriptions and correct number of glasses. (hope that made sense. I never realised that this was what I had signed for). I was glad of the extra appointment as it reassured me that the optician was giving her the right glasses. I was voluntary when they invited my dd I could have cancelled it.
Anyway the nhs guy doing the testing said that children do get free lenses and frames to a certain price free and they are also replaced or repaired free but if you are getting new pairs very often because of damage the optician may charge for them ( My dd had 5 pairs one year and I ws never charged). I also asked an optician who visited my mum today to give her an eye test and she said the same as the nhs guy.
Sorry turned into a long story. My dd used visionexpress for last four years they make her glases in about an hour.

P45 · 12/05/2006 18:21

Dear Dingle, just to let me know my DD got her first glasses today and adapted to them immediately - bearly tried to pull them off at all. Good luck with your little one! She may well be the same!

tomasinatank · 12/05/2006 21:09

My ds2 started to wear glasses 3 months ago. we choose one of the free NHS frmaes which i have to say i was very impressed with. I was prepared to pay for frmaes but they had very similair frmaes that would have cost me £40 but the NHS were so sinilair that we wet for them. He was had to have them tweaked twice and new lenses last week after scratching the lenses by putting them down on his skateboard. I had to pay £12.70 towards the sot of the new lenses. Iwas told the NHS give a £21 voucxher and i pay the rest. I dont' get a free 2nd pair either.

Maybe it depends on your child circumstances? It's wuoite odd that people have such different experieces.

Original poster
Dingle · 12/05/2006 21:23

thanks everyone- it's rather hectic here as usual, but I am popping back to see your replies. Hopefully going to try a few different opticians this weekend to see what they have to say and what's available.

OP posts:
anniebear · 12/05/2006 21:48

Dingle

I would defo look around and get a free pair. Also make sure it is convienient for you to get there and make sure they are good with Children

we sat in spec savers once for an hour and they kept seeing the adults first, I was so annoyed

Plus we are back and forth so much, it was not possible to get into town with Ellie all the time

Ellie (sn and 5 in Aug) has worn glasses since around the age of 17months

I can't tell you the amount we have gone through!!

we have lost a pair down the Tenby coast, there must be at least 3 pairs hiding in the house, a few pairs at the shops!!

With Ellie having SN she can put them somewhere but couldn't tell us were they are, so somestimes we never se them again! Now Grace her Twin, if she had glasses she would know where to put them, but Ellie hasn't a clue

Now we go to a local optition, we can get Barbie glasses free if we want, so you really shouldn't have to pay. They are also lovely with Ellie, know her by name Blush and know she can't wait!!

It has made a huge difference going there

Ellie has always had a nice modern pair

Defo don't pay for them!!

sorry I have waffled, just trying to help

anniebear · 12/05/2006 21:49

sorry, can I just add, every time we have gone back for another pair we just got them for free

Oblomov · 12/05/2006 22:10

Ds (2.3) has had glasses since 1.5
He has a squint.
WE started patching two weeks ago.
We deliberately chose a local independant optician, anticipating that we would build up quite a regular relationship !!!!
He has small round glasses, which make him look like the milky bar kid !!, with round bits that go round the ears.
We have been back for free repairs......many, many times.
We chose to order a second pair, at a cost to us of £60.
Just because you start at one opticinas, e.g specsavers, doesn't mean you can't change.
Wishing you all the best.

anniebear · 13/05/2006 07:36

we got told to just say you had lose the first pair so you would get another as a spare!!

we haven't done it, but its something to bear in mind so you dont have to pay for a spare

Blandmum · 13/05/2006 08:16

As I posted earlier, we have always had dds glasses free. I wanted to sort her out some prescription sunglasses for the summer at the same time as we sorted out her last pair. I was quite happy to pay and did so. the optition said that if I would find paying difficult we could 'lose' a pair, get them repaired and just pay to have them tinted!

Kind, but it felt a bit cheeky, so I paid the full cost!

flibertygibbet · 13/05/2006 09:46

So glad I saw this thread! I've been wondering how early they can test eyesight. My DD is 19 months and seems fine but DH is very shortsighted so want to test her asap just in case. What is the earliest they can do it and do all opticians do this? (sorry if this counts as a hijack! Blush)

Original poster
Dingle · 13/05/2006 13:02

Not a hijack at all. but I can't answer your question about what age an optician would be able to check.

Amelia has had to go to an orthoptist at the hospital from an eary age (about 9months I think) and they did a series of tests. Tiny coloured sprinkles on a tray, general play with toys, they use a perspex type block that has printed patterns on...etc.

We obviously went through early routine eye test because of Amelia having DS. Sorry that I can't help any further.

OP posts:
Seona1973 · 13/05/2006 13:38

my dd had her first eye test at around 18 months. As she was quite good at speaking she got to name some pictures of different sizes. They also put drops in her eyes and then tested to see how long sighted she was. They can test them really quite young as I have heard of babies under the age of 1 having glasses.

Seona1973 · 13/05/2006 13:40

forgot to say, my hv referred us to the orthoptist at the hospital as I had noticed she was squinting with her left eye. I dont know about getting the eye test independantly e.g. through an optician

flibertygibbet · 13/05/2006 13:43

Thankyou both for the info. I'll try some opticians to see about getting her tested. It should put my mind at rest. Smile

P45 · 13/05/2006 18:28

flibertygibbet, my DD is the same age as yours and already has glasses. The eye doctor used those drops somebody mentioned and can then do the necessary test without any input from baby. The prescription is not as accurate as when DDs can answer questions etc. but definitely better than not taking any action.

flibertygibbet · 13/05/2006 19:21

Thanks P45, it's good to know it's not just me that's worrying about this. Was this an ordinary optician (like specsavers/visionexpress etc.) or a referral from HV/GP to a specialist?

P45 · 13/05/2006 19:32

Hm, I live abroad so it´s a bit different. My DDs eye doctor is a specialist but his surgery is open to anybody; you don´t have to be "referred" as such.. I THINK any optician in the UK could do the tests and they only took a minute or two..

Incredible by the way how DD is acting like her new specs have always been there! She was just a bit confused tonight that she couldn´t rub her eyes as normal... ; )

nooka · 13/05/2006 21:27

flibertygibbet I would really recommend getting a referral from your GP/HV to a specialist or a community paediatric optician, not because you necessarily need a specialist eye person but because our experience is that most ordinary opticians are not that great with pre-reading children. Both my dh and I need glasses (I am very long sighted and he is very long sighted with a squint) and have used the same local optician for years and years. They are good for us, but misdiagnosed ds twice as having normal eyesight when he is in fact very long sighted like dh. It took another year before he got to the eye hospital and they told us that his eyesight could have been corrected if he had had the right prescription earlier :( luckily he is responding quite well. The school nurse got us a referral to a community optician who worked especially with children, and she was great - same sort of test, but more time and patience (ds was borderline SN and found sitting still very hard at the time). However short sightedness doesn't usually kick in until about eight or so (most little kids with glasses have long sight/astigmatism) so it's worth asking your dh when his eyesight started to go.

As far as the free second pair of glasses is concerned, in general you only get one NHS voucher unless there is a clinical need to have two (we had two for ds because it is important he wears his glasses all the time to try and correct his vision and we thought it was likely he would break them frequently). So you won't routinely be given two. Some opticians are happy to break the rules, as you can see!

nooka · 13/05/2006 21:33

Oh, and I wouldn't recommend Specsavers - dh managed to spend £120 on two pairs of glasses for ds with two NHS vouchers! The same glasses (well actually better ones) cost £40 from our local independent store, and you get a much nicer service (we get lots of repairs!). I like to get thinned plastic lenses for ds because that's what I have. They weigh less and look less "magnifying glass". Our local store charged £10 per glasses for that and then another £10 extra for Actionman frames, which seems OK to me. Frames are way nicer than the ones I had as a kid. I think having a spare is great - I was always breaking mine and my mother used to get really mad at me - I am determined not to do that to ds as I stopped playing games as a result of worrying about breaking my glasses and I want ds to stay a "wild child"!

red37 · 13/05/2006 21:36

I agree nooka, the specialist in the hospital who saw to ds prescriptions(he has a stigmatism)told us that ds was given wrong prescription by two local opticians.
It took nearly twelve months to get it right with ds's glasses

flibertygibbet · 13/05/2006 22:35

Thanks for all the info, I see what you mean about getting a referral Shock. I don't want to put her through the testing if their prescriptions aren't reliable. I think it's worth having her tested properly as DH is very short sighted and I'm slightly long sighted and wore glasses as a kid. Will talk to GP about this and see what he suggests.

nooka · 13/05/2006 23:23

flibertygibbet, I just noticed that your dd is only 19mths. It's very unlikely she is shortsighted (yet!) the consultant we see for ds told me that shortsightedness doesn't kick in until about eight (we are hoping that ds may have inherited my shortsightedness as this will counteract the long sightedness he has inherited from dh!) apparently this is to do with the way that the eyes develop. Definitely worth raising your concerns about the issue with your HV/GP, but unless you can see a problem with the way that she seems to be looking at things, I really wouldn't worry yet. Of course she may be long sighted/astigmatic which start much earlier.