long sighted 4 year old

[AllBoxedUp]

My DS had his routine eye sight test and the test showed he is long sighted. He was tested with the refractometer (?) and it measured as off the scale.

I've been told it's extremely likely that he will get glasses that he will not grow out off.

I was wondering how bad it was that this had only been picked up now (he's just 4), how we can have not noticed and how it will affect him growing up. I'm feeling a bit funny about it though I'm trying not to. I know it's not that bad but the thought of him in glasses makes me feel sad. I think it's just he will look different.

I'm glad it's been picked up though.

Do you have a copy of the prescription they gave you? Would you put the numbers up if you have?

Some people suit glasses though - my DC do! And there is a huge choice of frames available.

My two middle sons (of 4) were once 4 year olds with extreme long sight. They are now young adults. Yes, they do still wear glasses. But it's not a big deal. The lenses are now a bit thinner as long sight does tend to get less with maturity, and they get help - esp. ds2 - with choosing frames and lenses so they look a bit thinner. But it's all okay really. So many young people wear glasses and there is very little stigma these days, IMO anyway.

Thanks for the replies. We didn't get a prescription as it was a community check - she did say it was off the scale and I think she meant that literally.

I'm glad to hear your DS were ok basket. I know it's silly but it's just a bit of an adjustment. I'm sure we'll all get used to them. I am curious though as to what difference they will make in the short term and how well his eyes have compensated up until now.

I wouldn't have know ds1 needed glasses. His first eye test was just after his 4th birthday, and he was a +6 in one eye and the other eye just could see, and he needed patching for two years.

Yes it is horrible at first. DS didn't want to wear glasses, and he didn't look like my ds anymore. I felt so bad that I didn't realise earlier he couldn't see properly.

Now he's 15 it's just one of those things. His poor eye sight has never held him back at all, and he still claims he doesn't need glasses, although he does wear them.

Was it a nurse that checked? It was a bit mean of them to say it was off the charts. Did the use an ophthalmoscope?

And to be long sighted when they are younger is better than being short sighted,as it can improve slightly

The improvement in ds2 was more noted after he got the glasses. He did have a squint that took a while to be taken seriously by a series of HCPs. But things like his ability to not stumble on stairs was something we noted once he had his glasses. I think it was often with hindsight that parents notice with small children. I think ds2's eyes were +8 or something. They are now +6 or so.

You'll get more detail from specialists, I am sure. It does take some getting used to. I hope it all goes well for you and your son.

She was an optometrist. I think it could have been explained better but I think they do pack these appointments in. I think it was a refraction test. It took a picture of his eyes and she showed us the picture with the eyes highlighted red which she said meant it was off the scale.

He did a normal card test with letters first which he did badly at but I thought it was because he doesn't really know them (he had to match them to a card he was holding).

my dd is long sighted and has had glasses since she was 18 months old (now age 11). She will always need glasses and her prescription is roughly +4.5 and +5.25 in each eye). I dont recognise the test with highlighted eyes though.

Is he getting referred to the hospital orthoptist so they can work out his proper prescription? They will use drops to dilate the pupils to help them work out the strength of prescription required.

My DS was the same as LynetteScavo's son. His eyes have improved now but he always wears his glasses, except for skiing (not an intentional stealth boast). He got confused at school about whether the lenses were glass or plastic, if you son gets spectacles make sure he & his teachers know if the lenses are plastic as then he should be allowed to wear them more for sport.

I think it was an autorefractor - the red eyes was overlayed by the software (something like this.

I didn't know about plastic lenses - that sounds good. Sport is one of my worries as I was always hopeless and I think it matters socially anyway. Maybe he will be able to catch with glasses!

She was an orthoptist.

at that age they will normally be referred to the hospital orthoptist and that's where their appointments will be until they are around the age of 7 when they can then be discharged from hospital care to a local optician (well thats the way it worked with dd anyway).

They can send orthoptists from the hospital to do the screening tests in schools/nurseries (I recognised one of them from dd's appointments when they did a screening at the nursery ds was at)

Sorry - I've been trying to multitask and forgot to add that we have been referred to a clinic and they will do the test with the drops. She did say something about eventually being discharged to an optician. I think the next steps were clear but I was wondering about the bigger picture. Thanks for all the replies - they do help.

dd (11) wears her glasses for everything including PE. She has prescription swimming goggles so she can see at the pool! She looks strange without glasses on but she has had them for 10 years now. She does have the option of contact lenses but has said no to them so far.

p.s. its good it's been picked up fairly early as the eyes grow and develop up to about age 8ish. You may find the prescription improves as he gets older too - dd's prescription has changed a bit over the years but she will always need glasses/contacts.

Another vote here for getting him prescription goggles- my daughters only cost about £35 but made a big difference to her confidence when swimming. Try not to worry OP, like you I couldn't understand how we had failed to notice our DD's atrocious eyesight! She was 2 when we became aware if a turn, wore glasses from just 3 and was patched for 3 years. She will always need glasses but has become a little less long sighted as she's got older and wearing glasses has never been any problem. When you get to the hospital they will be helpful I am sure.

Op - I had glasses when I was 6 months old (they are TINY). Current prescription is +9 and +8.5 and has been stable since I was 11.

I'll be honest, in my early teens I hated it and couldn't wait to get (hard) lenses. Now though I love my glasses and alternate between wearing them and contacts. His vision surely cant be too bad else you'd have noticed. I wonder if there are other things e.g. astigmatism which might be making it look worse.

All I would say is that he is of an age where he will be conscious of others reactions. If you imply glasses are bad he will pick up on this. My mum despaired of the naff kids selection on offer when I was a kid so got my frames from France. Thankfully there are much better options now! If he does need glasses maybe let him choose the frames. Kids tend to have lighter, plastic lenses anyway. Metal frames are easier to repair if they 'pop' the lenses out, but I prefer the look of plastic. Make sues you have a spare :)

PS Astigmatism is fine, I have that too. Meant it might make the initial reading of his longsightedness look worse than it is

There is something in the physics of long sight which means you can focus reasonably close up if you try hard enough - I'm +4.5 in my good eye and used to be able to do this for short periods (it gets harder as the optical muscles age). This might be why it isn't obvious in your DS.

I know what you mean about feeling terrrible- we found out when ours was 2.5, but how could we note have noticed he was (on paper) blind?
he just coped. Babies don't know the world isn't supposed to look like coloured blobs!
don't worry about him not wearing them- he will love being able to see
Children get free specs and there's loads of cute colours and characters now, honestly DS has had Lego, star wars, Spiderman ... his friends at Nursery / school have envied him.

DS2 got his first pair when he was 6 months old... very high prescription.. they peaked at about +9.00 but have lessened a little as he has grown.

They are part of his face and I think he looks really wrong without his glasses now. Long sightedness often gets overlooked because they can see further away.. so can see the board at school, or their friends in the distance, adn their eyes can compensate close up to a large extent.. so it's much less likely to be noticed than short sightedness. Don't feel bad, and certainly don't worry. I teach and there are SO many children wearing glasses now..the children barely notice!

Just thought I would post to say that we went to the clinic and he is about +5 in each eye. He didn't like the eye drops but it was ok after that.

We went to the opticians at the clinic but their children's glasses didn't look that exciting so we went to SpecSavers instead. They do a free pair in addition to the NHS glasses - I'm not sure if other opticians do this but I'm glad we ended up there. They had lots more interesting glasses - sadly the lego ones weren't right for him but he is getting a Gruffalo pair and a Moshi Monsters pair too (not really something on his radar but he liked them). He looked really cute in them . He's still saying that he doesn't want to wear them and that he can see perfectly already so I think we might need to do some sort of reward chart. I'm really pleased we're starting to get it sorted though. Thanks for all the previous comments.