jenn- Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Well we went to the new eye doctor today for William. One of my fears of getting a second opinion happened. The new doctor got quite a different reading on his eyes. Where the first doc had written a script at -1.00 and -1.50 with an astigmatism adjustment, she only found him to be slightly nearsighted needing a script of -.25 and -.50 with no astigmatism adjustment (she said it was too minor to adjust for at the moment). Her equipment was definitely newer and I wonder if some of his problems reading from the other eye chart has more to do with contrast. This one was really black on white whereas the other is kind of black on yellowish. She does recommend putting him in glasses. She said since one eye is weaker than the other, it could get lazy if it isn't corrected. She also said since there is zero chance he won't be wearing glasses eventually, it is better to get him used to wearing them now. She wants to see how he is doing in 6 months. We did learn something else that the original doc has never checked any of my children for. He only scored a 4 out of 8 on the colorblindness test. At first the doc was going to dismiss the results because of his age (thinking he didn't understand what they wanted), but then she said that it would only be a concern if there was a family history of colorblindness. Well my father is partially colorblind, and since it is passed male (grandpa)>female(me)>male(my son), she said that the results are probably accurate then. Odds are all 3 of my boys will be partially colorblind since it is a strong trait. So now we know that he needs glasses, and as he gets older we will have to label his clothing for him. Not a biggie, but annoying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 I'd be frustrated with such different results, too. My father was completely color blind. He described seeing things in what he imagined to be shades of gray. My younger son is colorblind as well, and I'm very sad about that sometimes. They do learn to adapt and it's not that bad, but it still makes me sad for him. We were swimming this summer, and my mom pointed out a tree with these beautiful pink flowers, and he couldn't see them. He said, "All I see are leafs!" To him, the flowers just blended in with the leaves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 The eye exam should consist of more than the child reading from a chart. Even babies can get correct prescriptions. Definitely good that you had a more robust eye exam including colors. Glad your son is having his vision issues addressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in AUS Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 The eye exam should consist of more than the child reading from a chart. Even babies can get correct prescriptions. I agree. My DD has been in glasses since she was 3 for longsightedness. They put drops in her eyes and use a lens to test refraction of the light. She didn't have to even look at a chart at that point. They still do this now when she has a checkup even though she can read the chart. It is a more objective way of assessing their eyes than standard testing. We also saw 2 different Dr's after seeing no progress with the first one. The 2nd Dr had much more aggressive treatment, recommended a stronger script, treated her for astigmatism which wasn't picked up originally and she now has equal vision in both eyes. Albeit poor vision, but at least it is equal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Oh neither doctor relied solely on his ability to read the letters from the chart. They both refracted using lenses over dilated eyes. The second doc said that if the eyes are not fully dilated, you could end up with an over correction. Which is what she suspects happened with the first doc. I hope to be able to get out and find the poor boy some glasses over the weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 an ophthalmologist or did you go to an optometrist? My son had/has? amblyopia. He still goes every 6-9 months for observation. If it is treated early enough (and his was) it is completely treatable and usually correctable. Thankfully, my son has been corrected (after patching) to 20/20 with glasses. He didn't present with a "lazy eye." He looked normal. He just had bad astigmatism in one eye - and it was far sighted (where the other was near sighted). If there is any concern regarding "lazy eye" (amblyopia), please have an opthamologist see him now rather than later. (not to scare you, but the eye can go blind if it is not treated - it isn't getting pictures to the brain properly - so the brain ignores it). Of course - if he is corrected in both eyes and can see - as it looks like in your original post - there is probably no problem. I am just overly cautious about amblyopia - there is a boy in our church (20) who has his eye totally turned in due to it - they missed it. He is blind in that eye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenn- Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Thank you for the concern. He was originally seen by an optometrist. The doctor yesterday was a pediatric ophthalmologist. She did not detect any amblyopia, but was concerned that it could head that way if we didn't go ahead and correct now for the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelly in IL Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 I love our pediatric opthamologist! Way to be pro-active. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 This is such an important topic. I am so glad people post about this. I really encourage people to have their children's eyes checked. (And sorry for my rather brusque/random post earlier.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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