2 1/2 Year Failing the VEP Test....

I wanted to share my experience with you, even though my child is a little older (4 years old). Recently at the pediatrician, he failed the vision chart, as he could not make out what some letters/shapes were. The dr. recommended bringing him to an optometrist ASAP. The same week, I brought him to my optometrist, who also specializes in care of children. It turns out that his eyesight is not as bad as the pediatrician predicted (he had said it was 20/70 without correction); the optometrist thoroughly tested him and said it is 20/30-20/35 without correction due to astigmatism. He said that the astigmatism is something you are born with as it affects the shape of your cornea (we do have a significant family history of this as well). He said that without wearing eyeglasses, my child would not be able to see things properly. So he ordered eyeglasses to be worn at all times. The problem I am having now is that my child is refusing to wear them sometimes and we constantly have to prompt him. Sometimes when we are looking away from him, he will take the eyeglasses off and hide them under sofa cushions, etc.

Best of luck to you and your daughter.

J.

Hi B.: Its not a big thing. People go through life wearing glasses. My grandson was diagnosed with vision problems when he was 9 months old. We noticed that he was bringing objects real close to his face to see them. We told the prediatrician and they made the appt for the optomologist. Its amazing how they can tell when they are so young, what the vision is. Anyway he has astigmatism in both eyes, but in one eye he has a retinal scar that he was born with which caused additional problems because the eye got lazy. Unfortunately, there is no fix for a retinal scar. Needless to say he had to go through the patching of the good eye to strengthen the bad eye. They prescribed glasses but of course he never kept them on. He was too young to know better. Okay so now he is 22 months old with a new prescription and new glasses and he still takes them off all the time and fights to keep them on. Well we try and we will continue to try for his own good, and someday I know he will figure out that he needs them. He reminds me of a little clark kent when he has them on. Its not a big deal since the whole family wears glasses. So what I'm trying to get at I guess, is that we all worry about our little ones being perfect and having nothing wrong with them but it happens and they are perfect anyway. So dont worry so much. If your child has eye problems just work with the doctor to do everything you can to make his transition better and give him/her a lot of support and love. My grandson will wear glasses all his life and as far as the scar we are just hoping that it doesnt damage his eye more. ALready we can see the differences in the thickness of the lenses, but we just try and help him understand the glasses are good for him. He is too busy playing to worry about it. Hope this sort of helps.

Though my child's situation is quite different (he was born with a eye malformation called coloboma), I have plenty of experience in terms of treating vision issues and the most important thing I can tell you is this: do EVERYTHING that can be done to improve the vision of your child. It's worth it. And the earlier, the better because vision can be improved until 6 years of age approximately.

Sorry to respond so late. Just saw this in my inbox as I am finally cleaning up my e-mails. Did you get your daughter through the appointment? My son failed his eye test at 12 months at the ped's office. We took him to an opthomologist that specializes in children. It was rough because my little guy didn't want to sit still for the testing. My husband held him in his lap but he was super squirmy. They told us that he was far sighted, but at this stage they didn't want to put him in glasses. They want to see us again in 2 years to retest him. I hope all went well with your little girl!

I have worn glasses, and now contacts for my whole life. bAnd I used to lose them all the time.

Now I have a son w/ vision problems, and hearing aids. For some reason, in the 4+ years he has had aids, he has only lost 1, once. and his vision can not be corrected w/ glasses. he has had numerous eye surgeries, and will need a cornea transplant. Believe me when i say, i'd be thankful if all he needed was a pair of glasses.