My 7yo and reading glasses....

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We had dd7's eyesight checked in the past couple of months. She came through everything but they said she was slightly farsighted. (I think that is the one, I get them confused.)

They did not give her glasses or anything. So no big deal.

She found a pair of reading glasses that I had that I had purchased for a prop for acting--they only magnify to 1.5. And she was wearing them for fun. (I know that is probably bad. But she claimed it was helpful.)

She claims (unprompted) that she has an easier time of reading with them. She was working on one of her assignments this morning and had a question over letters that she mixes up often (and has struggled with prompting a vision check). I did not provide her the correct answer but fetched the reading glasses to "test" her and she was able to answer correctly (and confidently).

So now I am confused as to whether perhaps I should try another eye doctor and have her checked again.

I have had 20/20 vision all my life and am really clueless about vision. My DH thinks it isn't too big of a deal. (I think he didn't get glasses until a few years into elementary school.)

Any thoughts? I don't want to be a crazy mom dragging her in and insisting on glasses. My older daughter was also vision tested around age 6 and nothing came up at all. Perfect vision all the way around.

TIA.

 

[C.Ann]

Can you call the eye doctor you took her to and explain the improvement in her vision while wearing those glasses - even though they didn't prescribe any? At the same time, you could ask if it's okay for her to use the ones you have..

Not being able to see clearly is no fun - for a child or an adult..

 

[mrsv98]

DD sees a pediatric opthomoligst as she has a slight drift. According to her, most children are far-sighted when they are young, as DD was, and as they grow, their vision moves to 20/20 which is just what happened with DD. At this age, I would not give her readers without speaking to a doctor. I suggest seeing a pediatric eye doctor if you still have concerns. That doc should be able to tell if it is the "normal" type of far-sightedness or something that needs correction.

 

[golfgal]

Ok, does she SAY they help because she likes to wear them? To me reading glasses are for close up work-is that what you are talking about or are you talking about being able to see the board better in school?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Ok, does she SAY they help because she likes to wear them? To me reading glasses are for close up work-is that what you are talking about or are you talking about being able to see the board better in school?

She's wearing them to do an assigment in a workbook, so I guess that would be close up work.

I noticed the improvement almost immediately when she put them on--being able to read more quickly and not producing nearly number the same mistakes between identifying things she can identify.

But good point on the question--she's definitely a fashionista and I would have to be certain it isn't b/c she wants to wear them b/c they are cute and then turn her level of effort into a tool to allow glasses that she may not need.

I think I may call for a follow up just in case.

Whichever "sightedness it is"--I think my DH explained it was the one that makes it harder to see things that are closer to you.

I wish I wasn't so dumb--but I'm the odd duck in my family that never required glasses growing up.

 

[C.Ann]

Whichever "sightedness it is"--I think my DH explained it was the one that makes it harder to see things that are closer to you.

I wish I wasn't so dumb--but I'm the odd duck in my family that never required glasses growing up.

When you can't see close up, you're farsighted.. When you can't see far away, you're nearsighted..

When you're old, you're both..

 

[agnes!]

Without telling your DD you could get 'glasses' that have NO correction in them to see if her vision-improvement is mental or actual...maybe borrow a display pair from the doctor's office or something like that.

And you're not dumb, you're pretty darn smart in my book to *notice* the difference. As to the vision stuff, I had glasses all my life, from when I was in third or fourth grade (which is longer ago than I care to remember) until my cataract surgery last year and now my vision is different than it ever was before in my life. It's SO much better, but the psychological adjustment to not having glasses was much harder for me than I thought it would be plus I don't have the fine near vision I used to have. The up-side to that? Gosh, I look SO much better in the mirror than I used to !

Back to your DD...if the adults in the household wear glasses, or people she admires wear glasses, she could want to emulate that appearance.

agnes!

 

[mickeyboat]

DD9 was about 7 when she was diagnosed as far sighted. I was told that it did not need correction and that she would grow out of it. She never complains and have never heard of her having problems in school.

I would not let her use reading glasses without talking to your doctor. I wonder if you start correcting it now if she won't "grow out of it."

 

[kacaju]

my dd13 is slightly farsighted. Dr. said that we can buy the reading glasses from the store if she felt she needed them. She has them and does use them once in a while.

My niece who is 8 NEEDS reading type glasses. my SIL who does not wear glasses didn't beleive it for the longest time. She has sent this poor kid to tutors, made this childs life crazy because she thought she had some kind of learning problem. All because at the well exam by the ped they said her eyesight was fine. Our ped (we use the same Dr) onlt tests the kids for nearsighted. They make them look at a chart across the hall. DN didn't have that problem she couldn't see close up.

I finally talked her into going to an eye Dr and all that was *wrong* with ym niece was she couldn't see close up!!

 

[golfgal]

Being farsighted in kids is actually not all that common, did the doctor test her for that--they hand her a card with writing on it with small print? If they didn't test her for that then they wouldn't know. If you are not sure, call and double check. Where did you take her for the exam? If they did not check her for farsightedness then I would ask that you get another exam done for free. If YOU noticed an improvement then she probably needs them.

 

[mickeyboat]

Actually farsightedness is present with most babies at birth. As the child grows his eye lens shapes to correct the problem. The growth is usually complete by age 9, so at 7 slight far-sightedness is not considered a big problem. If it persists after the lens stops growing, then it might need correction.

Speak to your doctor.

ETA - my daughter's far-sightedness was not diagnosed by simply reading small print. It was diagnosed while testing her eyes after being dialated.

 

[pianogirl73]

My 6 year old saw the eye doctor in July and we were told she was slightly far sighted but not to worry about unless she complained. Last month she started to complain so we took he back and in fact she has gotten worse and wears reading glasses now. How long ago did she see the eye doctor?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Thanks for the info. I will give them a call again (as we did not have a chance today) and maybe get a follow up. It was end of Sept/beginning of Oct that she had her eye appt. She had the full works, so dilation and everything. The only test tehy omitted was the one where air gets puffed into the eye. She couldn't sit still enough to deal with that, so they omitted it.