Other links of interest about Braille:

• Reading to your blind child – from the Louis Braille school
• Braille resources for parents – from the American Foundation for the Blind
• More about Braille Literacy Month and the low rates of Braille literacy among the blind and visually impaired – from Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired

More

Books

Books would be my first place to start (but I’m a librarian, so of course they’re my go to resource).  Most books on our list are written from the perspective of the child who needs glasses, but some also follow friends or family members of kids who get glasses.  One person has already recommended Magenta Gets Glasses! by Deborah Reber, a Blues Clues book.

Shows

I’ve written before about some kids’ TV shows with characters who wear glasses.  Depending on the age of the siblings, the Yo Gabba Gabba episode from season 2 called Differences tells the story of Muno getting glasses, and his friends reacting to that.  I didn’t like that at the end Muno wears contacts (because I had hoped that he’d become a character who regularly wore glasses), but I think it talked a lot about other people’s reactions to seeing someone in glasses for the first time.  Sid the Science Kid also has an episode called Grandma’s Glasses in which Sid learns about vision and why some people need glasses.

Websites

There are a whole lot of websites aimed at kids that explain how the eye works (my favorites are from the Exploratorium – warning, it contains graphic images of a cow eye dissection, and the National Eye Institute), but not nearly as many that talk about glasses. Here’s a few:

• Whyzz - a site that helps kids explore questions, it provides not just answers, but also experiments to help learn more, and links to more information.  I’d start here.
• Annie’s Unite for Sight website for kids - a dog named Annie, who wears glasses, explains how the eye works, amblyopia, strabismus, as well as other vision issues.
• Kid’s Health has sections about eyes and glasses.

So what other resources are there?  Have you had to prepare an older sibling for their younger brother or sister getting glasses?  Any words of wisdom?

The page is a work in progress.  As I hear about or stumble upon other blogs, I’ll add them.  And I’d love to hear from you if you have a blog that you’d like to have listed, or if you know of a blog that belongs on the list.  The only requirement is that the blog have some posts that related to having a child in glasses or children’s vision issues.  The list includes both personal blogs, generally written by parents, and professional blogs, written by eye care professionals or others in the industry.

I had originally written a short blurb for each blog, but the prospect of writing a blurb for each on is a bit daunting, so I’m going to settle for listing the vision topics covered in the blog (eg. amblyopia, cataracts, or optometrist).

Check it out!

My son, Easton was born with a severely cloudy Cataract in his left eye.  At 3 weeks old he had surgery to remove the Cataract and his Lens.  It was after the surgery that we then discovered the Cataract was just a symptom of his overall abnormal eye.  He was diagnosed with Persistent Fetal Vasculature.  Along with abnormal eye structures and a cataract, his eye also is at very high risk of reoccurring Glaucoma for the rest of his life.  In order to maintain function and attempt to restore vision in his eye,  he has been wearing a contact lens since healing from the surgery and wears a patch over his “good” eye approximately half of his wake time, 6 hours.  He is currently 15 months old and it most definitely has been quite a journey getting to this point.  We recently found out that his Glaucoma has flared up and are in the middle of a battle with it right now.  Reading the blogs of other parents in similar situations is so comforting to me.  As a result I began blogging our journey approximately 6 months ago and it has helped immensely just to get it all out.  As this New Year begins I wanted to share one of my most popular posts as a way of reaching out and giving back to a community who has given so much to me.

This post was actually written Sunday, October 16, 2011… but it still rings true for me everyday.

Dear Easton…

My baby
My boy
I love you
so much
beyond what words
can express.

You are fearless.
You are full.
You are endless.
You are endearing.

You can do this.
There are so many days
when you make it
look easy.

But I know
you know
that there is a
harsh
cold
reality
to the days
that arn’t easy.

Every morning
Every moment
starts
and ends
with
the eye.

The eye
that can see
that is covered up
that wears a sticker
that bends your eyelashes down
that irritates
that itches
that rips your skin when removed,
that eye
is precious.

The eye
that can’t see
that is pulled open
that is poked
that is rubbed
that is wearing a contact
that is learning
that is growing,
that eye
is seeing.

I am sorry.
I am so sorry.
That you have to
endure.

I am sorry.
I am so sorry.
That nothing about this
is easy.

I am sorry.
I am so sorry.
That your vision
comes with a price.

But Baby.
My sweet
loving
lauging
little boy,
Mommy loves
you.

I love you
so much
that I will do this
for you.

I will continue
to wake up
everyday
and do this
for you.

Balance
Strength
Endurance

Easton,
Mommy is doing
the best she can.
I am trying.
I am sorry, baby.
I love you.

And when we have
bad days
you have to know this,
I do this
because
I love you.

Someday
we will look back
and I pray
all this is worth it.
Because you deserve
a chance
at the very least
you deserve
a chance
to have the best
possible
vision.

I love you.
I am so proud
of you.
Keep seeing the distance baby.
See the Distance.

“I am attaching a picture of my daughter, SALENA, age 8 years, who got her glasses when she was about 6 years old for farsightedness and astigmatism. She has been very good with her glasses always and has never broken one.  It has only been recently that she has started getting upset about wearing glasses as the kdis in her class are teasing her.  Her pet quote: ‘I look cute with glasses but pretty without them.’

I live in Pakistan and am a doctor. My husband wears glasses but my elder daughter and I , we do not.

I am hoping that seeing her picture in your photo gallery will remind my daughter how precious she is and that she is beautiful no matter what…:-)) I plan to go through the photo gallery with her and surprise her when she sees her own picture with the rest of the wonderful children.

She is a great dancer and usually called the “rockstar” of any show that she participates in.  She is the first one to start dancing and the last to sit down.  She wants to be a fashion designer, scientist and Barbie when she grows up!”

Salena sounds amazing, and it breaks my heart that she’s upset about her glasses and dealing with teasing at school.  And this echoes one of my fears, that Zoe will also one day start to think that she’s not pretty in her glasses.  So I’m asking all of you who read this, can you leave a note letting Salena know just how beautiful she is?

Squint

The one that trips me up the most is the word “squint.”  Until we started our journey with Zoe’s strabismus, I always thought squint meant having your eyes mostly closed, like you do when you’re in bright sunlight.  Turns out that squint is also a synonym for strabismus and having your eyes not in alignment.  This can lead to all sorts of misunderstandings when people talk about their child having a squint, or squinting to see something.  For instance, before realizing there were two definitions, at one of Zoe’s eye appointments, I tried bringing up the fact that Zoe squints one eye in the sun, that is, she closes one eye most of the way, leaving the other open.  Zoe’s ophthalomologist thought I meant that Zoe was crossing an eye whenever she was outside.  I now try to avoid this word altogether.

Zoe exhibiting two different "squints": eyes not aligned (left), and looking through eyes mostly closed (right)

Lazy Eye

The phrase “lazy eye” is similar in that it can mean different things to different people.  I think most people in the eye care industry consider lazy eye to be a common phrase for amblyopia – when one or both eyes doesn’t see clearly even if it has no defects, or even if any refractive error is corrected with glasses or lenses.  Never mind that “lazy eye” doesn’t really accurately reflect what’s happening with amblyopia, since it has nothing to do with an eye being “lazy” and everything to do with the brain not paying attention to the visual input of the eye.  But beyond that complaint, a lot of people hear “lazy eye” and equate it with strabismus, since you see one eye focusing on an object and the other eye looking elsewhere (being lazy?).  And I’ve heard other people refer to ptosis (drooping of the upper eyelid) as a lazy eye, again, presumably because the droopy eye looks “lazier”.   Further confusing things is the fact that both of those conditions can lead to lazy eye or amblyopia, but they’re not the same thing, and the treatments can be very different.

patching for amblyopia

Strengthening the weak eye

Related to treating lazy eye is the phrase that I find myself using a lot: “strengthening the weak eye”.  When a child patches the amblyopic eye, we often explain that they’re doing it to strengthen that eye.   In reality, though, we’re trying to get the brain to recognize the visual input from that eye, the eye itself isn’t being strengthened.  It’s misleading in a couple of ways.  First, when people hear “strengthen” they often think muscles, and I wonder if that adds to the confusion of thinking that lazy eye has to do with eye muscles and strabismus.  It can also lead to the misunderstanding that patching might make it so that the eye won’t need any correction any more if the patching is successful.  While patching can improve the visual acuity, if that eye needs glasses to see clearly, patching won’t fix that.

and on a much lighter note

Finally, on a lighter note, a reason to know the correct terminology for parts of glasses was posted over at Not Always Right (a blog about working with customers who aren’t always right).  I’d recommend using the term “temples” or “ear pieces” when talking about that part of glasses, not “legs”.

• Make a glasses case: Amomofelly pinned this link to instructions for making a simple glasses case that can be decorated however you or your child chooses.
• Turn old glasses frames into picture frames: I found these instructions a long time ago. I think it’s an interesting I idea, though with kids’ glasses, the pictures would be so small.
• Patches: There’s a ton of instructions for making your own patches to go over your child’s glasses, and the great thing is that they can be decorated to fit your child’s personality and likes. The big thing to be sure of is that the patch provides complete occlusion, and your child can’t peek. Here’s a couple tutorials, you can also google for eye patch tutorials or eye patch patterns:
• Using craft foam – pattern developed by Amomofelly and posted here a year ago.
• Using felt – from Lucykate Crafts

Anyone made any of these and want to share a picture?  Or have any other glasses-related crafts to share?

• A pediatrician who took seriously our concerns about Zoe’s eyes crossing.
• A pediatric ophthalmologist who we trust, and who really spends time with Zoe and knows her and her eyes.
• Patient opticians who have adjusted Zoe’s glasses countless times, and who have provided so much wonderful advice on the selection and care of glasses.
• Microfiber cloths, that are scattered throughout our house, so they’re always on hand to clean the always dirty lenses.
• Glasses that help Zoe see (and that are darn cute to boot)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  What are you thankful for?

I am a mummy of two great children one of whom needed glasses just before her 3rd birthday I was disappointed to discover the lack of choice and availability in Scotland and the UK. Every high street and local opticians have a small selection of children’s frames which are usually less than exciting. Detailed research has uncovered a huge choice of children’s frames spread all over the world, I would like to bring these together in an online shop featuring fun and funky eye wear to make wearing glasses exciting.  My dream is to one day have a high street opticians dedicated to the junior eyewear market. I am currently running a survey to test the market in the UK, I would be very grateful if would take the time to complete this short survey.  Many thanks Arlene Wilson (Rhys and Zoe’s Mummy)