10 Reasons I love my Ophthalmologist and Staff

We just had another appointment this week and I wanted to share with you why I feel so LUCKY to have found our Pediatric Ophthalmologist Office. Here are 10 reasons why I love them!

1. They SMILE
2. They listen to me and make me feel like my concerns are important
3. They are kid friendly and use many props to make the visit fun; puppets, Dora posters on the wall, sparkly princess stickers, and they even have their ceiling painted fun for kids.
4. They try to explain things to me in parent terms without making me feel inferior.
5. They give positive encouragement, “You are doing a good job with the drops.”
6. They make the exam seem like play time, “Are you ready to play another game?” as they put a sticker on their noses and Elly giggles.
7. They are well educated, well informed, and come highly recommended by other parents.
8. I feel that they are genuinely concerned about my child’s vision progress.
9. The office is clean.
10. The last part of the visit is spent giving Elly praise, stickers, and kind words, “We’ll see you again soon to play!” Because of this extra effort, Elly is always excited to go again.

short stories

To add to the list of reasons to like glasses: When it’s cold and all the toddlers are bundled up in winter coats, hats with earflaps and scarves so you can’t seem much of them at all, it’s much easier to pick your child out of a group of other tots if she’s the only one wearing bright red glasses.

~ ~ ~

This evening, I was singing “Hush little baby” to Zoe before she went to bed.  We got to the verse about “if that looking glass gets broke, papa’s going to buy you a billie goat.”  She pulled away from me with a concerned look.  “Glasses broke?” she asks.  “No, no, it’s a looking glass, like a mirror,” I try to explain.  She’s still worried.  “Glasses breaking,” she says, “no break the glasses.”  “No, it’s just a story,” I tell her.  “No more books, mommy,” she tells me.

What would you say?

A friend lent me her February copy of Parenting Early Years.  On page 79, there is an article called Healthy Ever After. One topic discussed is vision. The article says that “children may not complain about near-sidedness until they’re school age, but it can be detected as early as 3, says Dr. Dankner.”  The go on to recommend screenings at 1, especially if you have a family history of “eye problems.”

 

I think it was a nice little blurb, but like all magazine articles, just touched briefly on an important issue in those of us reading this blog.  If you could reach as many audiences as a well publicized magazine, what information would you want to share with other parents?

opinions on second opinions?

This question comes from a comment from Ingrid.  Have you gone for a second opinion?  How do you reconcile when you get two conflicting opinions from two doctors? – Ann Z

Just on a different topic. I would love to hear peoples opinions on getting a second opinion! I explained this to Paris’s optometrist and he said “well I probably wouldn’t have done that, Dr Smith would not appreciate it I am sure!” I was quite taken aback as I am sure a lot of concedrned parents do the same! What do you think?

open thread on glasses

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There have been quite a few questions in the comments recently asking about what frames people have for their children and whether they like them – and possibly more importantly, if their children like them.

So, comment away.  What frames have you owned for your kid(s) – do you like them – did they last long – did your child seem comfortable?

Pay attention to light

Learn from my mistake – pay more attention to light.  The other night Elliana came running out of our bathroom and into our lowly lit bedroom.  She smacked right into the corner of our bed and bruised her arm.  I felt SOOOOO bad.  The bed has always been there and is big and wood colored.  Looking back, the change from a bright bathroom light to a low light must have caused her to not see anything momentarily.  

 

When we met with the vision home-therapist, she recommended keeping lights at night in all the rooms at the same brightness so that Elly’s eyes would not have to keep adjusting and as a result be safer and not cause as much strain on her eyes.  I really need to do a better job at this.  Growing up, I was taught if you leave a room, shut the light off.  My brain is on automatic.  I noticed there are some rooms in my house that tend to be darker too.  My goal this week is to not shut the lights off in the areas she plays most often.

discussions

There’s a lot of great discussions going on in a couple of comment threads, so if you haven’t been following along, you may want to check in (especially in the Photo Gallery and the Nearsighted Kids post).  I have a list of most recent comments on the side bar, and WordPress now lets you ask to be notified by email if there are new comments on a particular post or page – just go to the page in question and check the “notify me” box when you leave a comment.

Given that there’s so much conversation, would anyone like me to look into starting a discussion forum?  Or is this blog format working alright for keeping up to date and asking questions?  No matter what we choose, the blog won’t go away, but if enough of you want a discussion forum, I’ll look into some options.

And finally, I’ve gotten a number of requests to pass along email addresses to other readers.  I am happy to be able to do this, and will continue to do so.  Just shoot me an email (ann @ shinypebble . com) and I’ll forward your address to whomever you want to contact.

On that note, I do have a group in facebook for Little Four Eyes.  I don’t think it’s all that great for discussion forums, but if you’re on facebook already, this can be a great way of meeting and connecting with other readers and commenters, not to mention sharing pictures.  Please join us!

Poll: Temples

There has been some discussion in the comments about the types of temples on glasses.  I believe that cable – or comfort cable – temples are the ones the hook all the way around the ear, while skull temples (which sounds like the home of the villain in a fantasy novel) are the temples that just bend over the top of the ear.

You can choose more than one answer on the poll, just in case you have multiple frames with different temples.

The question also came up as to the age of kids with cable temples.  If you have a kid with cable temples on their glasses, what age are they?

I need to vent about repairs

We have only had our Hush Puppies frames with cable temples 3 months and already the cable plastic has ripped and is coming apart.  If you read my post about getting the glass – you know I am already not the happiest with Lange Eye Care.  Since then, I have found an amazing one.  Because we purchased the frames at Lange, however, we have to go there for adjustments and repairs.  We also purchased the extended warranty, so I am stuck dealing with them for the next year or so.

 

10 days ago, we went in to order new cable temples because her’s are ripped and pealing off the temple. I notice her ear is pink where it rubs and want to take care of it before it gets worse.   They asked my color preference (ha ha ha, like they actually listen)  I said, pink, purple, brown, black, blue, anything that fits.  I was told it wouldn’t be a problem as the cables normally last longer.  Since it has been over a week, I called to check on their progress.  News- NOTHING.  They didn’t even order them because they couldn’t find pink.  ARGH. Thank goodness Ell’s glasses are still wearable –an active 2 year old with limited vision and no depth perception, without glasses is a recipe for another emergency room visit.

 

In my nicest voice, I asked them “Why didn’t you call me?”  Based on their mumbled response – They either forgot, misplaced, or didn’t care.  So, I asked “What do I need to do to make sure my daughter gets her glasses repaired in a timely manner?”  Thinking to myself – Do I need to order the parts and change them myself?  Their advice; If you don’t hear back from us in 6-8 business days, call back.  Let’s see if the parts are ordered this time.

 

I’m also concerned about the amount of scratches on the lenses.  We are very careful, but Elly has a tendency to throw them when angry.  Shouldn’t they be lasting longer????  And at what time do I make use of my 2 full replacements covered in our extended warranty?

new rule

Last night’s daycare pick up was a major battle.  Zoe wanted to put her coat on herself, but couldn’t quite get it right and so was frustrated, and angry, and didn’t want help, and basically, was being a typical 2 year old.  Being in Minnesota, going outside without a coat was not an option, so I ended up trying to get an extremely upset (but bundled) child into her carseat.  She was really worked up, so I took her glasses off pre-emptively so she wouldn’t get angry and pull them off or throw them or break them.

“Glasses!  Glasses!  No glasses off!  No mommy!  Glasses on!” She sobbed harder.

She hasn’t taken off her glasses in anger in months now, so I don’t know why I was worried.  I think I was just flustered, and honestly embarrassed at having to deal with her tantrum in front of other parents and her daycare teachers.  I shouldn’t have taken her glasses off, though.  What a horrible thing to do, to just snatch away something that aids her vision without her permission.  Of course she got upset.  I apologized, and lied, and told her I was just wiping them off since they got wet from crying.  I felt like I needed to give her some justification for taking her glasses.  I’m still learning this parenting thing.

So new rule:  No taking glasses off without asking first.  And Zoe has to follow the rule, too. I don’t want her taking my glasses off.  If we ran into another child with glasses, I wouldn’t want her to take that child’s glasses off.  But mostly, I want her to stick up for herself and tell other people that it’s not ok to just take her glasses away.  So I will ask now, before taking her glasses off, or at least warn her that I’m taking them before just snatching them away.

Why couldn’t it have lasted a few more months?

I’ve never seen glasses do this before, but one of the coatings is peeling off of Sam’s glasses.  It is really bad right in the middle of the left lense, so we are going to replace that one.  He has an appointment coming up with his eye dr in just 2 1/2 months, and odds are his prescription is going to change so we decided not to replace both lenses even though they both need replacing.  The left one is really bad, though.

Anyone else ever had a lense to do this? Here’s a picture, although I don’t know how much you can see.

lens

So far…

Things have been going pretty well with the patch. The first two days she did not want anything to do with it, and even hit me. Then the third day she didn’t try at all to take it off, I was very surprised. I thought it was going to be a continuous battle. As long as she is kept busy she doesn’t mind at all. I set her on my lap and we read or stack things and she remains focused. The other day after I took the patch off, she held her hand infront of her eye, I think she wanted to cover it so that her left eye would straighten out. Her eye is straight when the patch is on, though I haven’t seen much improvement once it is removed. We only leave it on for an hour a day. I hope that is long enough. I wonder what dictates the different lengths of time.
As for suggestions on keeping the patch on:
Once I put it on and put her glasses on I clap and say “yaaaay” ..she smiles and claps then. I also just try to play with something that will hold her attention.. like light up toys with buttons, books, and stacking (or knocking over) things. If she gets bored, that seems to be when the glasses come off and she starts pulling at the patch.

Tips for making the most of your child’s reading experience

I know that the majority of information we take in is done through our eyes and that providing children with literacy-rich environments and activities at an early age has significant benefits.  But how can you give children the experiences they need, when they have a vision impairment? Here are some quick tips.  Please ad more, these are just a few.

 

Materials for Reading

  • Choose books that have bright colors, lots of contrast
  • Think about reading books with pictures that are clear and simple
  • Read stories with large words and point to them as you read them

Spaces for Books and reading

  • Make sure the area is well lit; lighting above and behind where the child is will illuminate the book.
  • Play with different light bulbs and consider trying blue, orange, yellow hues.
  • Allow them to hold the book – they can hold it as close to or far from them as their eyes need.

Materials for drawing and writing

  • Provide WIDE tip markers that make a thick line (I love Crayola’s new toddler triangle grip markers)
  • Give large sheets of paper for exploration
  • Allow writing on different materials that have high color contrast; white chalk on a black board, blue marker on a dry erase board

In a daycare or pre-school setting – it is important to talk to your child’s teacher.  Public school teachers must do these accommodations and have specialist to assist them.  Most child care settings do not have these resources and rely on parents to educate them about their child’s needs.

 

  • Make sure he / she is always right up front close to the book.
  • If possible, have the child hold a second copy of the book.  If this is not possible, allow the child to explore the book before or after reading the story.
  • Enhance the story with a tactile or auditory activity. EX.  If the story is about a car, have your child hold a car during the story
  • If they are doing group writing, have them use big bold markers on white or yellow paper

Question: nearsighted kids

This question came from a comment by Carol. She’s looking for other parents of kids who are nearsighted (myopia). Can you leave a comment if your child fits that description? -Ann Z

My 29 month old twins wear glasses due to high nearsightedness. They wear the fisher price ones right now but we want to get them new ones. I am having a hard time finding anyone whose children wear glasses for high myopia. Does anyone else have children that have high myopia? Please let me know. Thank you! Carol

The highs and lows of having a toddler with vision challenges

I hit an all time low this week. Personally inflicting pain upon my child daily is very tough on the heart. Not only that, but I see her struggle daily trying to read books by nuzzling her face as close as she can to see the words and pictures. Today, we had to leave the library story time halfway through the first book because the book had hard to see water color pictures and Elly threw a major patch yanking, glasses throwing tantrum because she was frustrated that she couldn’t see. My happy go-nature child has become fearful, clingy, and definitely not happy. The ophthalmologist explained that we have taken her vision away and that it is a traumatic experience, and that now is the time when most parents give up. We will hang in there, but there are times when it is hard.

On the flip side, our vision journey has strengthened our family. I am even more in love with my husband every day. He has been such a wonderful partner sharing ideas and coming up with lists of questions for each DR visit. When he comes home from work and Elly is frustrated with patching – he will put one on too. I am also very blessed that we have access to great doctors, health insurance, enough money to purchase glasses and patches, and an education that allows us to make informed decisions. When I am having the low days, it is important to remind myself that we really are very fortunate and blessed.1jan09-148