I just love this new post by children’s optician, Danielle Crull from A Child’s Eyes.  She walks through the possible frame count for a young child as she learns more about his situation and needs and slowly figures out which frames might work for him.  It’s a great look at the thinking that goes in to finding just the right frame, and it illustrates how vital a great optician can be.  Here’s an excerpt:

[visual description: a display of children’s glasses frames against a brightly-colored wall]

Possible Frame count (Optician Thoughts)

Possible Frame Count = 650

(Someone’s here, must be a mommy, she’s holding a little guy’s hand and coming inside the door…He looks to be about 4 years old and she has a paper in her hand.)

. . .
Possible Frame Count = 200

“Hello, how are you?”
(he seems pretty happy, guess the doctor visit wasn’t too bad)

. . .

(oh, wow, what a cutie…He has Superman on his shirt…wide head, maybe a size 44, maybe even 46)

. . .
Possible Frame Count = 125

“Great, looks like Johnny has a prescription that is a little high and he will want to and need to wear them all the time. He’s going to love them!”
(superman..mmm…I know I have one of those toys around here somewhere)

. . .

“I have a Superman Mr. Potato Head…want to see it? He even has a cape!”
(cool, now I can get him to look up, pupillary distance…smaller than average, maybe 25/25…cute little ears, beautiful blue eyes, mmm…what frames do I have with a small bridge?)

. . .

Possible Frame Count = 50

“What’s your favorite color? Is it blue like Superman? Or Red like Ironman maybe?”
(okay, blue glasses…size 44 or 46, I have to put cables on them, they need a small bridge…oh wait! I forgot to look at his eye lashes)

. . .

Possible Frame Count = 20

“Let’s put these glasses on and look in the mirror, I bet you look like Clark Kent.”
 (okay, that didn’t work…where did that extra hand come from, I swear kids sprout them at will.)

. . .

Read the whole thing over at the beSpectacled blog at A Child’s Eyes, it’s well worth it!