Writing

I am not a big New Year resolution maker, but I do like to take the time to set goals for myself and think about the things I want to teach my children. One topic that came to mind was writing. Many children with vision issues struggle with writing. When speaking to our OT, we talked about the fact that they need to lift their pencil many times and find the little spot it is supposed to go back on. For instance, an “E” will need someone to lift their pencil 4 times before it is completed. This is why cursive writing is fabulous for the older kids. Unfortunately, many schools are not teaching the kids cursive and when they do, it is only in 2nd or 3rd grade. So how can we support our little ones?

My suggestion is to start easy, simple and stress free. I have recently purchased the program Handwriting Without Tears for the preschool age children and have found it very easy to do, fun and educational. Using some of things I learned from this program, my discussions with our OT, and my educational background; I try to come up with additional fun ways for Elly to practice writing. These pages are easy to adjust and make yourself at home. Although they may not look like Elly is practicing writing, she is developing the skills needed to form letters correctly. When I am teaching her writing skills, I always begin with showing her how to hold the pencil correctly (the bird grip, as we call it) and demonstrating the task correctly. The great thing about these tasks is that you can use the same paper many times, just have them trace, scribble or draw with a different color each time. At the end, your paper will be a rainbow =)

Below are 3 pages at different levels of difficulty – feel free to print and use them.   Often, I’ll just take a thick marker and draw them on the back of other projects so we don’t waste paper. Stickers work great too if you don’t like to draw. If I remember, I’ll try scan some others as we do them.

Easy: Find the fish and help it swim (scribble)

Medium: Help the penguin find his dad (draw a line in-between the path)

Medium 2:  Trace and then color the snowman.

on the question of straps

I felt like I kept running in to mentions of glasses straps the past couple of days.  First, Camille from Framehuggers (one of the highly rated patches that Amomofelly reviewed) tweeted that she had finished developing a head strap for infants and children and needs moms to test it out for free.  Update: Camille has enough moms currently for testing.  I’ll definitely update everyone when she has the strap ready to sell.

Then Leah left a comment in the photo gallery asking about using the band that came with her son’s Miraflex glasses.  How tight or loose should it be?  And where should the strap sit on a child’s head?

We’ve never used a strap to keep Zoe’s glasses up, but I know other people have had a lot of success with them.  How about you?  Do you use straps or bands to keep your child’s glasses up?  Any recommendations or tips or tricks?

delurk for sight 2010!

It is once again International Delurking Week in the blog world – that’s the week when bloggers try to encourage their readers to comment and let us know you’re reading.  As with last year, I’m providing some incentives during the week to encourage you to comment.

For the next 7 days, that’s the very end of today, January 4 through Tuesday, January 12, I will donate:

  • $1 for every comment you leave – regardless of which post or page it’s left on (spam comments don’t apply).  I’ll try to make it easier on you by posting a lot during the week.
  • $2 for new photos submitted to the gallery (if your kid is already featured in the gallery, sorry, you’ll just have to get the donation through commenting).  Email the photos to ann@shinypebble.com.
  • $2 for any “Your stories…” post submissions.  Email your story to ann@shinypebble.com.

This year, donations will go to ORBIS International, an organization whose mission is to “eliminate avoidable blindness in developing countries by strengthening the capacity of our local eye health partners to prevent and treat avoidable blindness.”  ORBIS works with local partners such as hospitals, universities, and health departments to provide quality eye care.  All projects are geared towards sustainability so that activities can continue after ORBIS assistance has ended.  You can find out more about ORBIS at their blog and their website, and read about some of their success stories.

I’ll post an update on funds raised each day on the sidebar.

So leave a comment!

eye exams – adult vs infant

Welcome to 2010!!!  In honor of the new decade, I’ve decided to give the blog a makeover.  The content is all still here.

I had my regular eye exam a couple of days ago.  It had been 2 years since my previous one, which was a week or so after we learned Zoe needed glasses.  Since then, I’ve been to so many pediatric eye exams with Zoe, that I’d forgotten what an adult one was like.  So many machines for mapping your eyes and visions.  And far fewer toys.  They have Zoe follow a toy tiger with her eyes to measure her range of eye motion, I got to follow a pen tip.  Zoe gets to look at a cute card of a house with a path leading to it with lots of shapes, I got to read letters.

It reminded me of a survey I’d recently read about, the 2009 American Optometric Association’s Eye-Q survey.  It surveyed 1000 American adults about their knowledge of eye and vision health. Towards the end of the survey – starting on page 5 in the link above – are questions about infant’s and children’s vision.  This one in particular jumped out at me:

60. What concerns would you have about taking your infant to see an eye doctor before age one?
Please select all that apply. (multiple answers permitted)

  • Infant can’t communicate — 37%
  • Infant can’t sit still — 25%
  • Too early to detect problems — 19%
  • Expensive–  15%
  • It will hurt the infant — 8%
  • Inconvenience — 5%
  • No eye doctor nearby — 4%
  • None of the above — 41%
  • Other — 2%

When I first read the results, it surprised me that so many people would think that their infant not communicating would be a reason for not doing an eye exam.  After getting my own exam though, I was reminded of how different the exams are, and if you are only used to the adult exams – reading letters, choosing between 1 and 2, and 1 and 2 again, and again – of course you might think that it’s crazy to expect a young child, and a pre-verbal one at that, to do that exam.

If you’re interested in reading more about infant eye exams, I think Dr. Bonilla-Warford’s post about the exam that he did on his own 7 month old (at the time) daughter, Nora, has a nice explanation about the process, from a parent and eye doctor’s perspective.

My eyes are healthy, by the way.  My prescription got slightly stronger (I’m nearsighted).  And I picked out a beautiful pair of Lafont glasses, so now Zoe and I will have the same brand frames.

Wishing everyone a wonderful 2010!   May your child’s vision grow stronger, may their glasses stay up on their little noses, and may their lenses remain unscratched!  I’ll be playing around with a new look for Little Four Eyes for the new year, so don’t be alarmed if things look a little different in 2010.

Just wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone!!

We’ve had a crazy, but fun 2009!  We’re looking forward to whatever the new year holds for us!

I wish you all the best happiness with your families throughout 2010!

=) Erin & Juliet

Please don’t

Dear random people in the coffee shop,

Please don’t stop in front of our table, stare at Zoe, grab your friend, then point at Zoe and smile and laugh and then walk off.  I could tell from your expressions that you weren’t trying to be mean, and that you thought Zoe was cute, and I agree, but it was pretty awkward, and I really don’t want her to be any more self-conscious.  She already gets really shy when someone comments on her glasses.  In fact, she’s normally good at saying thank you when someone compliments her, but she clams up if someone compliments her glasses.

Surgery Update (now with even more updates)

Dec. 23rd Elly just woke up (for more than 30 seconds) in good spirits. It has been 7 hours since her surgery.  The first thing she wanted to do was see her red eyes and because of the book “Pinkalicious,” she wanted to drink something pink. If you haven’t read this book, I reccomend it before this surgery as the little girl turns pink and crys pink tears. Then she wanted the bandage off her hand that had the IV and her name bracelet from the hospital off.  Her eyes are still red (more than I had expected) and has bloody tears.  She threw up the Gatorade they gave her all over the car, but is now drinking water and eating saltines.  Nothing like a coating of surgery blue liquid over everything to lighten up the mood.  We had a plastic bag, it just wasn’t out and ready.

She has been napping since the procedure, only waking up for seconds to tell us she was thirsty.  She would sip and then throw up. We took turns sitting by her bedside.  The hospital staff encouraged us to have her sleep as much as possible and reminded us that it takes 24 hours for the drugs to leave their system, so we need to closely watch her.  I completely panicked this afternoon when she woke up and said, “I can’t see.” It took me a millisecond to realize it was because she didn’t have her… glasses on. Her eyes are sometimes turning in, which the doctor said was a good thing, as her brain is recognising the change.   I am still completely a nervous wreck.  As I type and she is eating her crackers there is blood dripping from her nose (they said this could happen), bloodly tears slowly dripping down her cheeks, and reddish purple eyes.   It makes me want to cry and I do hope she is not in as much pain as she looks like she is.  It is like a picture from a Horor Film.  As soon as she is done eating, we are going to have some major mommy and Elly time. 4:30 p.M.

Update: It is now 6:00 and we just ate dinner.  She hasn’t thrown up in about 3 hours and we gave her rice with some cinamin sugar and milk – of course she wanted some chicken too.  I am hoping it wasn’t too much.  She is now in her Cinderella dress up costume trying to convince her papa to do flips with her (not a chance) They have settled on dancing to the music on the radio.  We have had 2 more bloody noses and some more tears.  Her right eye looks worse than the others and has more red and purple than the other eye.

For parents whose children may have to go through this or a similar procedure in the future

Things to remember; Put your kid in a button down blouse or jammies, stay positive at all times and use words like “an appointment at a different place,”  The book “Pinkalicious” was great because she LOVES being Pink and has Pink Tears.  Bring your kids blanket, doll or other lovey.

Things to have on hand for recovery; Gatoraid or Apple Juice Boxes, Popsicle, Children’s Tylonol or what pain relief your PO says is ok to give.  Fun treats or packages to open after medicine placement (gel or drops)  4 for every day

Update Dec. 26th:  Elly’s eyes are still very red.  Maybe someday I will have enough guts to post a picture of her eyes.  I still look at the blood-shot eyes and sad face and cry…maybe when they get better I can post it to help parents understand what their eyes may look like.  Just not now.  The IV left a really big hole in her hand and it has bruising around it, but she doesn’t seem to notice.  We have also had pretty good luck with the gel medicine.  I asked about the drops since parents had posted that they were easier, but the PO said the gel was more effective – so we tried that first.  All the Christmas candy is coming into good use.  My child, who normally doesn’t have candy, is in LOVE.  After each placement of medicine, she gets to choose a treat (piece of candy cane, M&M, gum drop and more)  This morning, she started negotiating for more.  “If I hold still for 2 eyes, then I should get 2 pieces of candy.”  Ok, not a problem in this household… here you go.   Then 30  minutes later, “Mom, I’m ready for the medicine again!”  She had found another cool Christmas treat. (not a chance, must wait a couple more hours)  At least it is making the process more bearable and she is willingly coming to get the gel in.  They said it doesn’t sting, but makes their vision a little cloudy where it covers the eye.  I still have to pry her eyes open to get it into the corner, but I have to admit, it is WAY easier than putting the atropine drops in her eyes. I think that is because I know it is not hurting her, but helping her recover faster.

December 29th.  We had our post op appointment today.  It started out with me dragging Elly out of the car to see the PO.  “I do NOT want to see her today.”  she screamed.  I reminded her this was the usual place and that all she was doing is checking her eyes today.  This did not go over well.  When she saw our PO, she took off running the other way, so fast that she biffed it and skinned her knees and hands on the sidewalk.   When we finally got her in the exam room ( the po grabbed a slinky as a gift to Elly and completed her exam with expert speed!) Elly repeated that she did not like Dr. Khuddus.  We tried to be quick and positive, but it looks like the eye with bad vision is turning in further than expected.  ARGH.  I understand that the brain is similar to the beginning and we have to begin to train it all over again that yes, that eye does need to be used.  Back to patching….  Thank goodness I had put a whole bunch of fun books on hold at the library.  We stopped there on the way home and Elly was ok with patching while we looked at all of our cool new books.  I am just praying we can get these eyes straight as I have absolutely no desire to go through this surgery any time again soon. =(

Dear Doctor of My Child’s Eyes,

Dear Doctor of My Child’s Eyes,

Thank you for being so positive about my child’s vision and taking the time each visit to answer all of my questions.  I am very nervous about Elliana’s muscle surgery tomorrow, so much that it is hard to sleep and I have often found my eyes welling up with tears thinking about it.  I know that you have done this surgery many times and are experienced, but this is my first time and it is my only daughter who will be put to sleep and operated on.

It meant a lot to me yesterday when you walked me through step by step how the procedure would be done.  Explaining that as she fell asleep with the anesthesia that you would take her to see the fish in the fish tank and play little games with her so that she would be relaxed and with someone she knows and trusts. Letting us know that she will not come out with bandages or an IV, but that she will be pretty angry for the first 20 minutes.

I also appreciate how calmly you explained how the procedure would work to my 3 year old.  It demonstrated that you not only know about eyes, but also about children.  I could not have done a better job myself.  I like how you told her that the office visits help make her eyes stronger, the patches help make her eyes stronger, the glasses help make her eyes stronger and now you are going help make her eyes stronger.  That she would see you for an appointment at a different place and that you would be wearing green pants and a green shirt.  We would meet a whole bunch of new people and then your would go back into a different room so that you could help make her eyes stronger.  I also appreciate how you told her that when she woke up she would be angry and that her eyes may be sore.

We, as parents, trust that you will make the best decisions about the new placement of her eye muscles based on your many measurements over the last year and a half.  Her eyes will be in good hands.  Please take good care of her.

Amanda

Left eye turns out and Right eye turns out

Good news at the eye doctor

Zoe had her regular eye appointment this morning.  I had been looking forward to it for a while because I was anxious to know whether she has developed any binocular vision.  Zoe was looking forward to it because she knows the eye doctor doesn’t give shots.  She had been asking about the shots in particular for a couple of months now, especially since her last visit to the pediatrician did involve shots.  The no shots is a big selling point for the eye doctor.

Lea chart shapes. Today was not a good day for the house shape.

Her visual acuity measured at 20/25 and 20/30, which was good to hear.  Last appointment, she hated the square shape and refused to say square or point to the square, even though she’d get every other shape right.  This time, it was the house shape that annoyed her.  Gotta love 3 year olds and their moods.

We got to give her ophthalmologist the Children’s Eye Foundation calendar that has Zoe on the page for December.  We hadn’t told the doctor about it at our last visit (I think we didn’t know which pictures had been chosen yet), so that was a fun surprise.  And I was happy to learn that Zoe’s prescription hasn’t changed.  I had already decided we’d keep Zoe’s frames for another year (as long as they don’t get irreparably damaged), but it’s nice to get to keep the lenses, too.  Though now they’re out of warranty, so we’ll have to pay to replace them if they get horribly scratched.

But the big news is that she did pass a couple of the stereoscopic vision tests.  She reached out and tried to touch the square that she saw in 3-d!  I am simply thrilled.

(Shortly thereafter, we got into a huge fight over whether or not I should have drank any of her apple juice – answer: no – but I’m going to focus on the good news of the day).

Patch Ornament

We just recieved the sweetest Chistmas card from Annisa’s Fun Patches.  Included was a simple white patch to decorate and either wear or hang on the tree. What a great idea – a patch ornament!  For those of you with sticky patches, you could easily stick 2 together and hang them as they meet their patching goals.  If you use Anissa’s they already have a hole to thread a ribbon for hanging on the tree.  I love the idea!  THANK YOU!!!  http://www.anissasfunpatches.com/

pictures of kids in glasses with a strong prescription

Thank you to everyone who commented on my earlier post about strong prescriptions and sent in pictures of their kids with strong prescription glasses.  I thought I’d make this a new post to show some of the pictures to give people a sense of the distortion that happens with high prescription lenses (hint, it’s really not very noticeable).  Again, you would expect that farsighted (+ prescriptions) will make the eyes look a little bigger, and that nearsighted (- prescriptions) will make the eyes look a little smaller.

~ ~ ~

Josh is a +9 in his right eye and a +10 in his left eye:

picture of a farsighted boy with glasses - prescription +9 and +10
Josh wearing glasses
picture of a farsighted boy without glasses
picture of Josh for comparison without glasses
picture of a lens for farsightedness or hyperopia +9 prescription
Josh's right lens

~ ~ ~

Christina’s daughter is a +7 in her right eye and a +8 in her left eye:

picture of a farsighted girl and her glasses
Christina's daughter and her glasses

~ ~ ~

Bennett is a -8 and a -12:

picture of a nearsighted boy
Bennett

(and of course, it goes without saying, but wow, your kids are all very cute!)

Say “CHEESE!”

It is hard enough to get a “perfect” holiday picture of a young child, much less one in glasses. It seams like if I have a picture that truly captures her face in the moment, there is often a glare in her glasses which leaves a bright light, her eyes are completely facing 2 different directions, or she is in motion and the picture is out of focus.

I am a firm believer that since my daughter wears glasses and they are a part of who she is, that they must stay on for photographs. Since a photograph is a way to remember an event or occasion and she would have them on – they stay on.

Here are completely non-professional tips I can share with you on taking pictures that have helped us.

1. Turn the flash off – use natural light (early morning or evening work best)

2. Try not to have the sun or other light shining directly on their glasses

3. Take the picture from an angle (not like my kid looks at the camera much anyways)

4. Have an assistant help – my husband usually puts silly things on my head and askes questions like… What color bow does the reindeer have on? to get her to look in my direction.

5. Take LOTS of pictures and delete the ones that you are not happy with.

6. Edit the picture you like in a program (Picasa isn’t bad and is free)

I still get a little glare – but OH well!  I think my kiddo looks adorable in glasses =)

I’d love to hear your “tricks” to reduce glasses glare with a non-professional camera!

open thread: introductions and updates

We’ve gotten quite a few comments recently from parents new to the world of young kids and glasses.  Welcome!  I’m so happy you found us, and I really hope you’ll post any questions you have, and stick around and let us know how things are going for you.

I thought it would be nice to have another open thread where people could introduce themselves, and leave any updates on how things are going.  How has 2009 been for you?

how magnified will my child’s eyes be in glasses?

One question I see a lot is how different will a child’s eyes look when they’re wearing glasses, especially if they have particularly high prescriptions.  It is true that glasses will change the appearance of eyes: nearsighted lenses will make the eyes appear smaller, and farsighted lenses will make the eyes appear larger.  The higher the prescription, the more noticeable the effect.  Getting high index lenses will make the effect much less noticeable (they’re also thinner and lighter).

Zoe in her highest prescription of +6.25

In my experience, the effect was far less than I feared.  While I noticed Zoe’s eyes looking a little larger in her glasses, they never appeared “bug eyed”, and I am guessing that someone that didn’t know Zoe wouldn’t have noticed it at all.  From looking at the photo gallery, I think this holds true for most prescriptions, but that’s where I need your help.  For one, I know that Zoe’s prescription is only moderate, and that many of you have kids with a higher prescription.  But I don’t know what the prescriptions are for any of the pictures in the gallery other than Zoe.  If you have a child with a prescription of greater than 8 (I’m looking for both nearsighted and farsighted prescriptions, so greater than +8 or -8), would you be willing to share a picture of them in glasses and what their prescription is (or let me know that their picture is in the gallery) so that I can give parents an idea of how much or little their child’s eyes will be distorted by the glasses?

Patching Success Story

Yeah for patching!

I am very excited to share with you that we have now had 3 visits where Elliana is measuring at 20/40 and 20/50 (with glasses of course) Our 12 hour, full time, patching has paid off. The PO said that she never imagined her vision getting to this level of vision and said that with her Exotropia and severe Ambliopia only 1 in 10 kids will get to this point where both eyes are relatively equal. She is also now turning both eyes outward, as opposed to only her left eye. While this may seam a digression, it actually means that her brain is using both eyes and that she is using both equally!

Now for my reward …. Surgery. I know, one would think all this hard work would actually just give us a great prognosis and allow me to go home a celebrate. NO WAY – because her vision has improved to a point in which she is using both eyes equally, the PO thinks it is the best time for Bilateral Lateral Rectus Surgery. Originally, she was thinking maybe around the kindergarten age, but after discussion Elliana’s lack of any depth perception (usually by age 2, some chance of gaining it before age 5) and her vision improvement, now is the time.

So, I am back to research mode. Thankfully, we now have a very good relationship with the doctor and I have utmost confidence in her and her staff. My baby’s eyes are truly in good hands. It is also re-assuring to know that she performs on average 8-10 of these surgeries weekly and has few patients return for “touch up surgeries.” I am hoping those of you who have been through this surgery with active toddlers / preschoolers can help me prepare both my family and Elliana on what to expect during, after and in the recovery stages.