For Little Eyes

World Sight Day 2009

I’m almost out of time, but I wanted to post something in recognition of World Sight Day, 2009 – an international day of awareness, held annually on the second Thursday of October to focus attention on the global issue of avoidable blindness and visual impairment. World Sight Day is part of the VISION 2020 Global Initiative for the elimination of avoidable blindness, launched in 1999, jointly by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB).

The VISION 2020 site provides information about the prevalence, causes, and means of preventing vision loss and blindness. Some of the facts (which come from the World Health Organization) were astonishing to me, even though I consider myself pretty well-read on the topic of vision issues:

80% of blindness is avoidable – either treatable, curable or preventable
90% of blind people live in low-income countries
Nearly two-thirds of blind people worldwide are women & girls
Cataract is the leading cause of blindness – yet it is curable by a simple, cost-effective operation
145 million people’s low vision is due to uncorrected refractive errors (near-sightedness, far-sightedness or astigmatism). In most cases, normal vision could be restored with eyeglasses.
8 million people worldwide are blind due to uncorrected refractive errors. A simple sight test and glasses could restore sight to most of these people
Restorations of sight, and blindness prevention strategies are among the most cost-effective interventions in health care

I think that having a baby (then toddler, now almost 3 year old – gah!) in glasses has really sensitived me to global vision and blindness issues. I knew that blindness was often preventable or treatable, but I had no that the number of avoidable cases was 80%. It’s gotten me wondering about ways support initiatives such as VISION 2020 to help prevent vision loss.

spotlight on Little Four Eyes

Julia Kelly at BlogCatalog wrote a very nice spotlight on Little Four Eyes, which includes an interview with me. I’ve enjoyed interviewing other people for this blog, so it was fun to be on the other side and get a chance to talk about Little Four Eyes, and especially how much you all mean to the blog.

Bumper UP

I received some helpful advice for helping my daughter stay safe as she RUNS through the house. I think it is a great thing to teach children of all abilities and wanted to share with you.

The idea is that when they are running, they keep one hand in front of their chest so that their hands would hit an object first before their face. At first, Elly wanted to cover her face with her hands, but we would turn it around so it faced outward. We practiced bumping into things while we ran and talked about how if our “bumper” was up, we wouldn’t hurt our face. It took a couple days and quite a few “play times” for her to get it. Now, if I see her running without her hand up, all I need to say is “Bumper UP!” Sept09 032

This has significantly decreased the number of times that she runs into walls, corners, and doorways. Another version is bumper cars, where the child hold their arm at chest level and the other at stomach level. We encourage her to use her bumper often at home when she is in the mood to let off some steam, but have been fortunate that she has a healthy fear of new places and slows down when we are at parks and playgrounds.

Poll: how many pairs of glasses?

Quick poll: How many prescription glasses does your child currently have? You can include prescription sunglasses and goggles, if they have them.

Recommendations

I recently got an email asking for recommendations for an ophthalmologist in Perth, Scotland. If anyone knows of someone, please leave a comment! But it reminded me that I’ve been thinking about putting together a page for recommendations – a place where people can list doctors that they’ve loved and glasses shops that have provided great service, and of course, great glasses.

So this is an experiment, and I’m curious as to whether it will work, but we’re giving it a try. But you can head on over to the Recommendations page (it will normally be linked from the Collected Wisdom page) and fill out a recommendation form if you’d like to add a name or place to the list.

Reader request: toddlers with autism, sensory issues, and glasses

There was a question posted on the Little Four Eyes facebook page from a mother with a 2 year old with autism who needs glasses, and she’s struggling to help him adjust to the glasses.

He is just farsighted and I feel I need to get him to wear glasses. I worry how much he is missing out on (eye contact, recognizing people, pictures, etc). The problem is, he won’t even wear sunglasses or a hat. We have had issues with putting his shirt over his head. I think this relates to sensory issues and I have a feeling that the weight of the glasses is too strange. I can’t keep his glasses (or hat) on for more than a second (if that). I don’t know how to get him to keep them on. Most of the time I can’t get them on. His hands are up and now he’s starting to cry if he sees them. We can’t to stay positive, get excited if they are on and practice with cheap glasses since the others will be destroyed before ever worn! I am sure this is somewhat normal, but I don’t see anyone discussing this or at least not like what I am describing. When others say their child doesn’t like glasses. What does that mean? They take them off? Most advice is for children that can be reasoned with at some level. It’s questionable how much my child understands. Characters, discussion is not going to work. He wouldn’t understand. Think baby in toddler body. He is nonverbal, so I don’t know what he doesn’t like. It’s all guessing. I really need him to wear these things. I will con’t to work w/ therapists to assist in this process. If there is any info out there on this specific topic. I would love to see it. Thanks 🙂

One of my favorite things about this community is how willing others are to offer encouragement and advice when they’ve been through similar situations. I forwarded this question on to Dina, whose son is diagnosed on the autism spectrum and is legally blind. She has written about her son here, and also blogs at Frazzled Working Mom. She had the following advice, which I’m posting here for anyone else that might be facing this:

Autism and visual impairment are two separate disabilities and generally treated quite separately. My recommendation to her is that she treat him for sensory integration disorder, which will help reduce the sensory sensitivity; a good Occupational Therapist will incorporate teaching him to tolerate his glasses into the therapy, and his Early Intervention team should make “keeping glasses on” as a goal. Naturally, I faced this problem but it got easier as my son got older and he realized the benefit from wearing the glasses.

If anyone else has information, advice or encouragement, please leave it here.

Eye Exam Video

Eye Exam Video. This is an oldie, but a goodie from the Sesame Street website. If you ignore the very outdated clothing and equipment, the exam featured in the video is very similar to what our experience have been. We have been going about once a month for the last year and a half. All visits include having Elliana “read” the letters or shapes, have her track, or follow an object and often have a light shown in her eyes. Only every once in a while do we have to have her look through the “machine.” We watched this video after our last visit and talked about how our visit was similar and how it was different, but you could also show your child before you go, so that they have some ideas about the activities that the PO may do. I also made sure to point out to Elly how calm and patient the little girl was and how important it is to be on your best behavior for the doctor. (our wait is often 1-2 hours and Elly is SO ready to go home by the time we see the PO)

Reader question: self conscious in glasses

This question came in from Heidi. Any advice for her older son? -Ann Z

Hi, I am a mom of 2 boys that wear glasses.

My oldest is 5 1/2 and just got his glasses the week before kindergarten started. My youngest is 2 1/2 and has worn glasses for 9 months. My oldest is the one who doesn’t want to wear his glasses now. He picked out his frames and we have 2 different retainers to keep them on his face. His little brother and I both wear glasses. We, also, just found out a girl in his class now wears glasses. He has always been terribly outgoing and wanting people to notice him, a showman, really, but now all of a sudden he is self conscious. Any ideas?

I am a very LUCKY mom!

I know without a doubt that someone out there is watching over me! Last month, in the middle of our patch hating eye prescription worsening time, our new neighbors moved in. Sept09 179

I have to say, there is no way I could be happier. How often is it that you have another sweet little 3 year old move in next door that wears glasses and a patch, accompanied by her kind 5yr old sister who is also in glasses =) It has been SO wonderful playing with them and I couldn’t have asked for anything better!

I am a very lucky mom!

multiple strabismus surgeries

This question came in from Darlene. -Ann Z

My son had surgery to correct his exotropia but it hasnt seemed to help straighten his eye. Does anyone have any experience with their child needing multiple strabismus surgeries?

5 Fun Tracking Activities

With a special thanks to our OT Ms. Fuller for helping us “play” and strengthening our vision at the same time! I think these are fun activities for all Pre-school – kindergarten kids, no-matter their vision! Most can be adapted for different ages. As always – I am just a parent sharing ideas; this is in no way medical advice!

Flashlight Tag – In a dark room (we play in the evening) the child takes their flashlight for an eventful game of flashlight tag. The parent slowly moves their light along the wall in all sorts of directions and the child’s job is to catch their beam. This works best if you have 2 flashlights or laser pointers that make a very clear beam on the wall.
Hit my ballon (or ball) on a string. – Tie the balloon on a 1-2 foot string and have your child watch the ball and “hit” it when it comes close to them. We aim for making contact 10 times. Today we played with a ball, but it moved too fast and Elly was not able to keep her eyes tracking on it and ended up just batting at it and getting lucky a few times. A balloon would slow the game down.
Dancing Finger Puppets. – Hold the puppets in front of the child’s face and have them follow the dancing puppet as you move it slowly back and forth, up and down and in a circle. Ask them to tell you the attributes of the puppet – what color is the face? How many dots are on the tummy? Ext.
Pop the bubble. – Have your child put out their pointer finger and practice popping imaginary bubble gently with a slow tap. The key is to make sure the kids are looking at the bubbles. Then begin blowing bubbles and having your child slowly pop them. If they are having trouble with their fingers, a paintbrush also works and they can “paint” the bubble to pop it.
Tricycle or Bike obstacle Course- Set up a few cones and place a card on top of the cone with a picture or letter on it. Have your child “Drive” through the course avoiding the obstacles. Encourage them to read and call out what is on each card as they go around it.

Backyardigans’ “Glasses Are Great” Stickers

My friend just sent me this link to print our own stickers. I like the idea of making them into iron-on transfers too. They were bright colored, fun, and great for a little one in glasses, so I wanted to pass it along!

http://www.nickjr.com/printables/backyardigans-glasses-stickers.jhtml

Book Giveaway at Amblyopia Kids: 45 Lazy Eye Exercises

Hellokittiemama over at Amblyopia Kids recently reviewed the book 45 Lazy Eye Exercises, and raved about it and recommends it “especially to parents who are just starting out with patching, as well as parents like me — who may have been patching now for several months but feeling like they’ve hit a wall on things to do.” You can read the full review here.

Now she is giving away a copy on her blog to one lucky commenter. Deadline is September 17, 2009. Check it out if you’re looking for patching exercises!

reader question: looking for examples of kids with higher prescriptions

I just got this email from Tami, who is looking for stories and pictures of kids with high + prescriptions to help her daughter who is unhappy about getting glasses and worried how they’ll look on her. As an aside, any doctors reading this should take this as a lesson in being careful in what you say to kids about getting glasses. I’m sure the doctor thought it would help.

my daughter who is 4 yrs old was diagnosed with acommodative esotropia today with a very high prescription 0f +6.5 and +7.5. Do you have any tips or pictures of kids in that high of a script for far sightedness? She is very sad that she has to wear them and the doctor made the mistake of telling me her eyes would look larger in the glasses, Will they really be that thick? If you have any advice of pictures of kids in the similar presciption maybe it would help.

back to school

I keep seeing lots of back to school pictures on facebook, so I thought it’d be fun to post some here. If you have a first day of school picture that you’re willing to share, send it my way and I’ll post it here.

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