Four year old failed vision test??

jeffgeorge

Hi all,

Hope this is right place. Got a letter from school nurse on Friday to say my four year old had had hearing and vision tests.

It read like this:

Vision: Failed vision test need further assesment

HEARING: Satisfactory

Tried to ring the school nurses but no answer.

Mind going mental, worrying about it. She gets headaches but I always felt her eyes were great (she can spot sweets a mine off!!!)

Anybody had this with their little ones.


Thought the letter could have been worded bit better as feeling really guilty that I havent picked anything up or that I should have took her to optician.


Any advice lovely lots


xxxx

74jax

I would phone the school on Monday and ask how you go about getting the further assessment. It may be at the local hospital.

I had to take my daughter every 3 months for about a year and then every six months.

It's better to have any problems sorted out when they are younger rather than waiting 'to see' how things progress.

As for worrying, unfortunately I'm not a worrier unless it's a problem right in front of my eyes. I wouldn't worry over this. you don't know the outcome of the further assessments. Don't worry infront of your child either, this could cause her to get upset.

Phone as soon as you can, and then you're doing all you can at this time.

csh_2

If the school haven't given any indication of a follow up or whatever, I'd just pop her along to the local optician

lauren_1

She could have failed her vision in one eye or both (she may be slightly long or short sighted) even with a slight prescription she will need to see a optician , if she has problems with one eye or both the stronger eye can overtake and over focus to enable her to see, this however can cause headaches, especially in the evening.

Failing an eyetest shouldnt be anything to worry about, you can approach specsavers yourself and if needs be they will refer you on.

bertiebots

It can only be a good thing that this has been picked up now. Unfortunatley my sons eyesight problems werent picked up till he was 6 and his teacher noticed him struggling. It isnt a simple matter of you not picking it up, lots of parents dont know, like myself , until they take their child to an optitions. I always thaught I would notice if there was a problem and take them but its just not that simple!
So you have no reason to feel guilty at all!.
All you need to do is make an appointment at your local optitions and get her eyes fully checked. They have tests designed for very young children regardless of if they can read or not ,..so thats not a problem.
My ds1 wears glasses . My dd also wears glasses although she was told at her last test that they have improved so much that she may no longer need them after next year... ds2 doesnt need glasses , they are all tested annually. Neither have every had any problems at school because of it (I was worried they may be bullied but its never happened).

emlou2009

Nothing to worry about at all, it just means she needs glasses! I do have some knowledge of this kind of thing, as I work for Specsavers. Give the school a chance as if they refer her to the hospital for a sight test, at her age they will issue her two pairs of glasses in case she breaks a pair, whereas your local opticians will only have the authority to issue her one pair. As a general rule they can attend either a local opticians or a hospital for a sight test until they are 5-6 years old, and it doesnt mean its a terrible thing if she is referred to the hospital, as its still only a regular sight text. HTH

jeffgeorge

emlou2009 wrote: »

Nothing to worry about at all, it just means she needs glasses! I do have some knowledge of this kind of thing, as I work for Specsavers. Give the school a chance as if they refer her to the hospital for a sight test, at her age they will issue her two pairs of glasses in case she breaks a pair, whereas your local opticians will only have the authority to issue her one pair. As a general rule they can attend either a local opticians or a hospital for a sight test until they are 5-6 years old, and it doesnt mean its a terrible thing if she is referred to the hospital, as its still only a regular sight text. HTH

Will it definetly mean she needs glasses. Is there nothing else it could be.

If she needs glasses thats fine but was hoping not

lauren_1

Glasses have improved 100 fold since i had them as a child (im only 26) i have had them since i was 2, my dd and ds both have since they were 3. They are some really good 'kids' designs like barble etc etc and some rather funky rimless frames too for kids.

74jax

jeffgeorge wrote: »

If she needs glasses thats fine but was hoping not

Any reason why not?

No it doesn't mean she will definately need them - at the moment they don't even know what the problem is.

Mine never did, she just had to suffer almost 3 years of constant testing. Sometimes I'd wish it was as straightforward as just needing glasses.

Indie_Kid

lauren_1 wrote: »

Glasses have improved 100 fold since i had them as a child (im only 26) i have had them since i was 2, my dd and ds both have since they were 3. They are some really good 'kids' designs like barble etc etc and some rather funky rimless frames too for kids.

I second this.

I don't think a parent can really pick up long or short-sightedness. My parents only knew there was something wrong, because I have something far more complicated; which can be seen. (if you look closely enough)

emlou2009

9 times out of 10, if she's failed a vision test it will mean she does need something to correct the vision, yes, but it doesnt matter? There is still no reason to panic, glasses really arent the end of the world, and there are lots of really good styles out there which actually do suit the kids these days. We get plenty of kids come in who get upset on the way out when they're told they dont need them, and cant have that Spongebob Squarepants frame they wanted!