Recommendations for children's spectacles?

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We have just found out ds1 (8) is shortsighted and needs glasses Trouble is, he will need them for distance stuff, blackboard, TV, cinema, etc, but not all the time. He has Aspergers, and struggles with schoolbag, homework, PE kit, scooter, lunch box etc at the best of times, and I imagine that the glasses will usually be at school when he is at home and vice versa. So, 2 pairs would seem to be a good idea. BUT, the NHS voucher thing will only cover one pair of lenses, and the frames he wants are over £80 at our opticians, so where should I go to get a cheap spare pair to keep at school? Has anyone else done this?

I used the voucher for my spare pair and forked out the money for ds1's main pair. They were lighter frames than the NHS one's and you can change the lenses over and over which is important because their prescriptions change all the time. It may be worth spending the money on the one's he wants if you can afford it. I bought ds1's 2 years ago and they are still going strong. The NHS one's are okay but as I said they are heavier and if you want them to wear them all the time it helps if they are as light as possible. One tip, don't get them bent round the ears. Some people do this as they think they will stay on better. They actually really hurt and irritate the ears. Ds1's stay on amazingly well without it, and this was an expensive mistake I made. Also try different opticians they really vary on how good they are with children. I am now with a fantastic one who has so many frames and is really great if we need to pop back to have them tightened or whatever. Ask around for child friendly one's, it really does make a huge difference.

Sam has AS too, has had glasses since he was 18 months due to astigmatism that means he has somewhere around 50% vision, depending on which optician you are talking to.

He gets NHS voucjers for two pairs, the Optician just requests that on the form. Cannot yours do this?

truth be told, Sam damages them very quickly and loses tham a lot. My best advice would be go wioth what he wants. Action Man are quite resilient (specsavers) and shop around as what costs X in one shop may be Y or even free elsewhere. No idea, but this seems to be the case.

Vision Express IMO expensive and take ages if unusual prescription (ie Sam), Specsavers great so far, contemplating Asda Opticians.

I go to D&As and they provide a 2nd pair for 19 pounds. I do that, and then have 2 pairs for the kids

Thanks all - will go and try and persuade them to give us two lots of nhs vouchers I think, on the strength of this. Happy with the optician, dh and I both been going there for 15+ yrs, and all children been having regular checks for ages, so don't want to move..