Has anyone had any experience with Astigmatism in children?
DD6 saw the optometrist about 2 months ago and we were told that she has astigmatism. They said that she was most likely born with it, and because she will have always known no difference but the intermittent blurry vision, they would not prescribe glasses because the glasses can affect depth perception, balance etc while she adjusts to them.
That said, she is to be reviewed every 12 months and will definitely need glasses in the future.
She intermittently complains of headaches (which they said would likely be attributed to the astigmatism) but other than that, is otherwise perfectly happy and healthy.
Over the last few weeks DH and I have been paying more attention to her reading and we are noticing that she seems to struggle intermittently with focusing. She is a very good reader, well beyond what is expected for her age, but she does seem to struggle and uses her finger to go over easy words again and again until they are 'clear' (her words).
I have suggested to DH that I want to get a second opinion... feeling more that if she is going to have problems then we should address them as early as possible instead of waiting for it to become a problem.
DH thinks that we should just wait it out and see.
Has anyone else had any experience with Astigmatism in children and may be willing to offer some experiences?
I don't want to be over reacting and creating a big deal out of nothing, but I also don't want to leave it play out if taking action is going to help her.
5 Replies
I'd get another opinion. Vision problems are generally easily fixed nowadays.
My vision problems weren't picked up until I was almost 13, I have Astigmatism too, I'm short sighted and have a birth defect in both optical nerves called drusen. If these issues had been picked up earlier, it would have made life much easier!
I just think it'd be best to get the ball rolling now, whilst she's young. I think you'll find She'll adjust to the change easier at this age.
I have astigmatism, as so do all my brothers and sisters
One sister got glasses at 2, is considered legally blind without them, my brother got glasses at 5, and us other 3 are just fine
I'm nearly 40 and still don't need glasses yet.
My mum was told the same thing about me that you've been told
My daughter has it too, we were told to wait for glasses but it was affecting her school work and getting headaches all the time. When she first got them it took a bit of getting used to, but she is so much better with them than without. I regret not getting her glasses as soon as we found out.
My 6 year old has worn glasses fulltime since 4 years old. She has low vision in her left and an astigmatism in her right.
She sees an opthomolgist every 3 months as well as an optometrist .
She has a patch, learning to read is a bit of a battle as she cannot see much with the patch on.
It is ment to be worn 4 hrs a day, we are naughty, as some times her reading needs to trump her eyesight.
Hubby has an asigmatisim, it's no biggy to him he wears glasses full time.
Get a second opinion. My husband is an optometrist. I would recommend an independent as opposed to a chain store. If you go to provision.com.au website you can check out ones in your area and find one that deals a lot with kids.