As a parent I realize that kids have a very special place when it comes to eyes. We will provide information that we hope will make your parenting efforts and research into eye issues for kids.
Summer is almost over and school is about to start. It’s time to make sure that your teen has the new glasses he needs. Buying affordable glasses for teens is quick easy especially if your teen has been wearing glasses for a while.
Prescription eyeglasses can be very expensive, there are affordable glasses out there. And when your teen needs a pair but does not want to wear them the options are not as limited as you might think. There are so many trendy glasses to pick from!
As I’ve told you, in my case I really thought it was cool, and maybe even grown up to wear glasses and …yeah …I sorta stretched the truth somewhat and got my glasses when I was about 11. My eyes just weren’t that bad though. Most of the time they actually served as a headband on top of my head.
Well the same thing happened with my son, he squints a bit later in the day and the optometrist said that he is a little short-sighted. But it’s not really that necessary yet for him to wear glasses. Added with the expense (affordable glasses) of glasses and his inability just yet to keep track of his water bottle and jacket. Adding glasses to keep track of — that he has to wear in class and keep safe at other times seemed a bit of a stretch. So we waited….and kept a close eye on his vision.
High Prescription?
Some kids are fine with wearing glasses and others…maybe the ones with a pretty strong prescription…well they don’t like their glasses. Generally, their glasses are thick and well let’s face it — parents didn’t spring for the high-index lenses, so they are stuck with the coke bottle look!
Sports
Playing sports and wearing glasses may not be a match made in heaven. While doable it can be an added stress for kids that are under pressure to perform. If glasses are absolutely necessary it can be hard for a kid to have to deal with glasses in, especially, contact sports or — swimming! You might not realize this as a “perfect vision” person but, if you don’t have contacts and if you don’t have swimming prescription goggles it’s hard to see what’s going on when in the water. Kids can be exacting!
—Are they talking about me? Who are the laughing at?—
Life As a Kid
Granted if a kid has had nothing but work done on his features — braces, some start really early, glasses and God knows what else —what is a kid to do? Enough already…we (parents) get it, right?
By puberty, it does get old.
Does he or she really want to go for that “four eyes look?” While some may find their glasses flattering and enjoy the “geekiness” others just don’t want to have anything to do with glasses.
Covid-19 (the old 2020 and hereafter for now)
During these last few years we have been stuck in our houses – and our kids have been stuck on the computer. Playing video games is the continuing treat these days!! So for those that do spend long hours on the computer wearing computer glasses – or basically, glasses that have blue light blocker coating on them would help them from getting overly tired and hopefully sleeping better to boot!! Check out our gaming glasses page for more insight
So what are the choices?
First thing is –this is the one time so far in history that it has become so cooool to wear prescription glasses. Really even famous basketball players and other celebrities are now sporting “fashion glasses or fake glasses!”
(Check out Justin Beiber or Demi Lavato) It’s not just them even teens are wearing glasses –just because! So head on over to our online store trendy glasses and let your teen look around—might even be able to get a couple of pair because they are very affordable.
Contacts —some eye doctors say it should be fine to fit your teen with contacts and to allow them a bit less handling(no cleaning etc just wear and throw out), though expensive you could try “one a day” contacts. So check with your eye doctor to fit them with the most comfortable pair if the circumstances allow.
More frequent checkups — let your teen see the change and the optometrist can let him/her know if the need for correction is getting higher or staying the same.
Sometimes, and please check with your optometrist, there are options such as vision therapy or Ortho-K (specially designed contacts that are worn at night; they shape the cornea for clear vision during the day) which can slow the progress of myopia.
In Conclusion
Your teen may not be off the hook entirely but there are options that you can explore. Either by delaying the wearing of glasses or by encouraging a fashion-forward attitude in which case once you have an idea of what is needed look for affordable glasses. But the bottom line is if your child needs to wear glasses then find ways to make that happen!
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Blue Light Blocker Coating on Glasses for Kids Playing Video Games
Summer vaca is long over, a new year has begun and on your ‘must-do’ list should be having a kids’ eyes exam by an eye care specialist. As a mother of twin boys, I have done some research for our kids.
Following are my findings peppered with my opinions!
So I want you to know that 80% of problem readers are deficient in 1 or more visual skills, did you know that? Seeing clearly is only one of 17 visual skills needed for reading and learning.
There is nothing worse than a young person starting a new year, new school and maybe landing themselves in new social conditions and not being able to see. It can be a big problem!
Kids at school
Having an eye exam should start early, between ages 3 to 5 and then continuing on yearly along with the well-baby check ups.
Remember the eye chart at your kids’ paediatrician is not that reliable AT all! You must get a thorough check up with a pediatric optician. I know this as my kids had yearly check ups and always did great at the eye chart…and it was fun. My own gut feeling, and seeing my boy always squinting made me want to look further.
At a visit to an Optometrist you can expect detection of myopia (nearsightedness), amblyopia (lazy eye), and strabismus (a misalignment of the eyes or crossed eyes). After your visit, if you find that there are continued problems, then, you may need to find a “developmental optometrist” to see if your child is maybe suffering from “convergence insufficiency” (CI).
CI is all about how the eyes work together. And is characterized as a “common” childhood visual disorder that affects 5% of the US population. It is usually diagnosed during the school ages or adolescent years. You may not be aware of this, but, if your child exhibits reading problems or behavioural problems, according to specialists, this should be a go-to exam to check off.
Rocking my Rx glasses
So yes, vision problems in kids can be problems with fine motor skills (reading, writing, cutting with scissors, colouring, typing, texting, etc), gross motor skills, behavioural problems, attention problems as well as performance problems during school or sports.
For the development of good hand-to-eye coordination, it is very important to ensure that your child is seeing clearly. Fine motor skills require translating abstract vision information and applying the corresponding fine motor skills. Body-to-eye coordination for gross motor skills requires translating visual information into the corresponding gross motor activity, such as in sports, running, jumping etc.
Supporting all that your child wants to do starts with good eye health. Hand to eye coordination develops through sports and other activities
As your child gets older and, especially with the growing use of electronic devices, kids vision can actually change rapidly. My kids didn’t get their first eye exam at school until 8th grade so that may not be something to count on even for basic vision testing.
Behavioral Optometry considers “visual information processing weaknesses.”
“Distractibility, weak reading skills and poor academic performance: these are signs of several learning disabilities, as well as ADHD. But they can also indicate something else — vision problems that will not be solved with Ritalin or most special education techniques.”
Some common complaints when vision problems are present:
Physical:
Get headaches
Complaining that eyes feel tired or uncomfortable when reading (or doing other close work)
Eye rubbing during close work or reading
Double vision while reading
Movement of words, jumping or floating
Words blurring or going in and out of focus
Losing one’s place while reading
Squinting
Psychological Avoidance:
Feeling sleepy when reading
Finding concentration hard when reading
Can’t remember what was read
Not wanting to read and acting out or refusing to read altogether
Resist reading and avoid it whenever possible?
Keep in mind that while you can probably notice some of these problems, others you will have to ask your child about.
So the bottom line?
Get an eye exam as often as possible (once a year is good) to stay on top of any problems that could be hampering your special little (and not so little) guy or girl’s ability to excel at what they love!
Some helpful links:
Find an eye doctor near you (there are several sites where you can enter your zip and get Optometrican near you)
Affordable Prescription Eyeglasses (keep in mind for a young child we recommend going to a traditional eye doctor for prescription eyeglasses. Once your child is older, can articulate any problems and is experienced with glasses it will be ok to buy glasses online)
jacket. Adding glasses to keep track of — that he has to wear in class and keep safe at other times seemed a bit of a stretch. So we waited….and kept a close eye on his vision.
