ds2 failed his eye test at school and is to be retested in a few weeks - anyone know what the test involves?

[Oati]

I just had a slip of paper in his book bag - no details of what the concerns are

surely if he appeared to be short-sighted or something they would tell me to take him to the optician wouldn't they?

Am wondering if I should take him anyway.

Will try to contact nurse tomorrow for more info

He will have to be assessed initially by a specialist and most opticians won't take a young child until they are 7/8. My ds failed his eye test twice at school and again with the local health authority. We were then referred on to a special clinic where an optician tries to understand what lens they need for their glasses. It involved putting drops in his eyes to make his pupils wider and then her looking in his eye and testing him with various pictures and letter. He was given a prescription and was reviewed with a normal eye test 3 months later. At that piont he was discharged to an optician and was revied with a normal eye test 6 months later and his prescription reduced.

Be warned, once you get on to the glasses route with a boy you become best friends with the optician since you are there every week, month, day etc. Our record was 3 hours from getting glasses to when he broke them. Thank goodness they are free

Hope that helps

thanks slalomski, that's useful info

ds2 is 5 BTW - he's in Reception

hi, just to add my imput alot of eye conditions if caught early are treatable so, I would definantly take your ds to see a qualified optician. My daughter has eye problems and the hospital see's her regularly she 3. and my other 2 9 and 6 have been having yearly eye test from around 3. They are free, so its better to be safe imo.

I use boots for my older 2 and find them very good.

The test in the school will be suited for his age and they will be able to advise if he needs to go to the optition. DD's test at this age wasn't clear as she was fidgety and not concentrating, second one was fine and she didn't have a problem after all.

I've not heard what slalomski mentions before about opticians not taking children until 7/8 - my DD visited the optician when she was about 5yo, had colour test and sight test in an appointment just before I did (her school doesn't do a sight test).

After that she went annually until her sight deteriorated then she went onto six monthly check-ups. She's worn glasses for a while now.

All her tests are free and her glasses are free as long as she chooses within a certain group. There are other styles available for a fee or prescription sunnies for around £20 if you want those. DD has recently had contact lenses prescribed which she wears for judo and some sport at school.

my son failed a development check way before school (age 2 -3?), and my HV recomended an opticians that was very good with children. He was fine after a check. I now take my 3 children every year, and are tested according to their age, ie they try to pick a 3d animal off a piece of paper, what shape/animal/picture can they see, tests vision and color blindness too. My other child failed his reception test, and was retested in school a month later,and was fine/ They also run routine hearing tests. ask your HV to recommend an opticians

My ds failed eye sight test at development check too, he was 3. HV told me because both were equally bad there was no problem, his eyes would catch up! 2 years later he failed again at school, 8 months later he got his first appointment at hospital and first pair of glasses. He is very long sighted, +5. It was then that I was told that the delay in treatment (the wearing of glasses) would have diminished his chances of eye correction. I am mad with HV and school nurse for not informing me properly. Both me dds have visited opticians (several over the years) from a very young age. They have no problems.
So, I would advice you take your ds to an optician now. Weird that you were given no advice at all.

Not sure whether dd has had sight test, but her hearing was tested at school, and I got a letter saying they wanted to re-test her. That happened a couple of weeks later, and all was absolutely fine. Dd can be a bit shy, and she told me that she gave quicker responses the second time than she had the first. Could that be the case here?

Thanks for all your feedback, ladies.
I spoke to the teacher and apparently a lot of the children were referred for retest - the feeling is that it might be down to a lack of co-operation more than anything else

I'm going to see what happens after the referral. I am conscious that it is important to get problems picked up early - have been hearing horror stories about sight deteriorating because it wasn't corrected early enough.