PLEASE get vision exams for your children!

[Stayseeliz]

Both of my daughters have been diagnosed with a condition called amblyopia this week. My 6yo will need strong glasses, patching and vision therapy and that may or may not fix the problem. My 2yo needs glasses but will probably only wear them for a few years and we won't have to do patching. If we had taken my 6yo in earlier we probably wouldn't be dealing with such an extreme problem now.

Please don't assume because you don't SEE anything wrong that there isn't anything wrong. My 6yo is almost legally blind in her right eye but she overcompensated so much with her left eye that we had NO idea anything was wrong. NONE! Please take your children in to be seen by 2-3 years old! You could save yourself and them so much trouble down the road!!

[Aquitane]

Although DD doesn't have a serious condition I would have to say that as a parent, I was ashamed of myself when she did not do well on her eye test at our ped.'s.

She didn't do too poorly, but ped. was concerned enough to tell me to take her for a more thorough eye exam. She needed glasses, especially for distance. Once she got them, she said, "Wow, mom! I can totally see the board at school now!"

DD never had headaches, she does awesome at school, so I never thought to ask. She just thought it was normal not to be able to see the board!

[Stayseeliz]

We really had no clue. NONE. None of the warning signs were there. I'm kicking myself over and over again. We're in for a battle now. I wish we'd taken her earlier!

[SheSpeeds]

It's hereditary as well.  My Mother in law is blind in one eye.  My husband has very strong glasses, but they caught his ambliopia when he was about 5.  Kids can be tested as young as 2-3 years of age, and under 5 is the time to catch it.  Don't wait until Kindergarten if it's at all in your family.  My son has been checked at 2, and will be checked again at age 4 as added assurance that it wasn't missed the first time.

It is very treatable and it's not something one can ignore.  I will do anything to stay out of a doctor's office, most of the time, but not for this.

[babygrant]

My youngest son (5) had no interest in reading, writing his alphabet, or even learning his alphabet.  He wouldn't sit still for more than a couple of minutes.  We just thought he had a short attention span.  One day we got a postcard in the mail stating that he was due for his first eye checkup.   We almost put it off because we had never noticed any problems, but we figured what the heck, we'll bring him in.  The optomatrist was shocked!   He asked us if we ever saw any sign that he may not be able to see, and we said no, we just thought he had a short attention span!  Turns out he is extremely far sighted.  His perscription is +6.25 in one eye and +5.75 in the other.  That's HUGE!  We got him glasses and as soon as he put them on he yells "I CAN SEE!!!!".  Ever since that point he'll sit and look at a book with us for HOURS, and he'll sit at the table with us for hours writing out the alphabet and drawing pictures.  As soon as he wakes up in the morning the first thing he asks for is his glasses so he can see what clothes he is picking up.  We are so glad we got his eyes checked before he went to kindergarten!

[SubliminalDarkness]

Same here. We noticed one of DS1's eyes crossing in occasionally. He passed the ped vision test just fine. But we went to see a pediatric ophthalmologist anyway. Turns out, he was incredibly farsighted and the one eye was in really poor shape but the other was mostly fine. Had it been caught sooner, it would have been easier to treat. My son had never resisted reading, but he suddenly took off once he got his glasses. He was about to be 5 when he got them. 

I do sometimes look at kids in pictures(there was someone on this site that I saw yesterday who had posted some) and her child looks the same way my son did in pictures. It's concerning to me, but I don't feel right pointing it out to people all the time. I just wish I had known sooner, y'know? The vision tests at doctor's offices and school don't test for farsightedness, only nearsightedness. My husband is nearsighted. My vision is perfect. Go figure. 

We got DS2 checked out last month and his vision is perfect, thankfully. But we'll go back again next year to be sure. 

[lactivistmama]

Originally Posted by Stayseeliz 

Both of my daughters have been diagnosed with a condition called amblyopia this week. My 6yo will need strong glasses, patching and vision therapy and that may or may not fix the problem. My 2yo needs glasses but will probably only wear them for a few years and we won't have to do patching. If we had taken my 6yo in earlier we probably wouldn't be dealing with such an extreme problem now.

Please don't assume because you don't SEE anything wrong that there isn't anything wrong. My 6yo is almost legally blind in her right eye but she overcompensated so much with her left eye that we had NO idea anything was wrong. NONE! Please take your children in to be seen by 2-3 years old! You could save yourself and them so much trouble down the road!!

I could have written your post about your 6 yo word for word!! Same condition, same treatment plan, even same eye! My 5 yo ds was just diagnosed with this! To find out that your 5 year old is almost blind in one eye and may never regain vision is devastating! I had no clue he had a vision problem! He reads, plays, etc. fine without any indication of a problem! (although now that I know he has a problem I have realized that he has never walked down steps "normally" he always grabs for a hand or moves his legs weird to place them on the steps right but I always thought that was just him, you know?, the opthamologist we went to said that it is because his depth perception is so off due to the amblyopia. but even thinking back that is the ONLY thing that he does a little off) We were refered to a Pediatric Opthamologist who specializes in amblyopia. He sees her tomorrow. I am sooooo nervous!!

 

[KatWrangler]

Thank you for the reminder.  My son needs his eyes checked again.

[StephandOwen]

Great reminder! My ds has gone every year since he was 1, but there's a history of a genetic eye disease (retinitis pigmentosa) so we've always been cautious to make sure he's not showing any signs of it.