Does Your Child Need Eyeglasses?

Series Summary

Eyeglasses have been around for centuries and were first developed in Italy in 1284. Many people around the world benefit from the invention which allows for vision correction and eye protection. In modern glasses, plastic, polycarbonate or glass lenses are supported by frames made of metal or plastic. All sorts of refractive errors can be corrected in glasses, whether you are near sighted, far sighted or presbyopic, eyeglasses can clear up a persons vision. Not only do eyeglasses help people see, but the ultraviolet protection built into many eyeglass lenses can help prevent macular degeneration and other diseases of the eye.

Many people get their first set of eyeglasses as children. In this free video series, our expert optician will teach you how to pick out children's eyeglasses. You will learn how to find proper fitting glasses and also how to include your child in the selection process. You will also learn about a variety of eyeglass frame types, including full metal frames, plastic frames, and flexible metal frames. Get tips on whether to use plastic or polycarbonate lenses for your child's eyeglasses, and suggestions of possible lens options like anti-reflective coating or transitions lenses. If your child needs glasses or seems to be having vision problems, let our expert teach you everything you need to know about children and eyeglasses.

Video Transcript

"Now we're going to talk about how to know when your child might need glasses. Being an optician for 10 years I've seen lots of different children who require glasses. And you'd be surprised at the young age that kids start wearing glasses. I was surprised myself. I have seen 2 year olds come in with glasses and I always thought, well how does a parent know that the child needs glasses at that age. The child can't really articulate. But what you're looking for in a child that young. If they have a tendency to like maybe run into things. They reach out and grab something that seems to be out of their reach. That's the time that you want to go ahead and say, hey maybe my child might need some vision correction. It's not too early at that point. Although you do need to seek a specialist. Usually a child ophthalmologist for a child that young. Other than that we see here typically children starting at age 5 on up. And generally their complaints are going to be a little bit more verbal. They're going to say I can't see this sign. A little bit older they're going to say I can't read the board or the projector at school. Teachers will start moving them to the front of the class. Most schools now, at least in the school districts around Austin are screening kids. And they basically have a mandate that they send to the parents and say, hey we think your child may need some vision correction and we want you to have them seen. So those are generally the key signs. You have the school And you can just have the observations at home. And then you have to kind of listen to what your child is saying. Some children may have brothers and sisters who have glasses and they want to wear glasses too. So you kind of have to weigh those things into consideration, too. You have to be able to gage the truthfulness of what your child is saying verses as to what your situation is at home. So just come up with a few tests. Can you see this. Can you see that. And then at that point then you can take them to a professional and have the professional check them out."