Preschool Eye Test

[LisaKaz75]

Today have taken my 3 year old son for a preschool eye test. This is offered to all children in my area at between 3 and 3.5 years of age

Leo is autistic and mainly struggles with comprehension and communication and there lies the problem

We managed to do the test for the squint, where he looks at dots and sees 3 things, although he did not name them he pointed immediately at all 3, so that ruled issues out

 

Where it got stuck was where she hold up a letter getting smaller and smaller and he is expected to hold up the same letter. He is not expected to name the letter though he can one or two, but he is meant to select the matching letter from a pile next to him while wearing kiddies sunglasses with one eye blacked out!

 

Well where do I start! He did not like the glasses, and i could not get him to understand what he was needed to do. The lady carrying out the tests was lovely and kept saying its like pairs or snap, but we just are not at that point with him

 

She has suggested that we give him 6 months and see if we can play some of these types of game at home and try again, but that when his letter comes, if he still does not understand to postpone again

 

I am not overly worried about his eyesight, but has anyone any different experiences. or do we just say if he cant understand the test that we dont test??

 

LisaKaz

[smiley1590]

i had squint when younger in both eyes i had to have an operation to try correct it which it did i had white tape patches on both eyes for abit the squints used play up all time especially when i was tired become worse became more obvious i had wear glasses since i was a toddler around 2 years old because i had mypoia ( short sightness) without my glasses i struggle bad!

 

XKLX

[GaryS]

I think this is type of thing is one of the hardest things we have to try and deal with. Our DS has gone from and to most of the major developmental accomplishments gaining then losing routine abilities ordinarily required for everyday assessments of health. All we can do is try and have all patience to impel.

[baddad]

Hi - can't really offer much other than if you've not got any concerns about his eyesight then the 'wait and try again' approach is probably the best one.

My son's been wearing specs from about that age, and initially his eye tests were at the local hospital. Didn't have too much of a problem getting him to wear the glasses, but can fully appreciate that a kid who didn't understand the 'game' that was being played (which is the only way to sell that kind of test to a kid) would be pretty much impossible to work around. maybe if you're waiting another six months or so you could get him some nice 'sunglasses' to practice with, or even dressing up games where he wears glasses/masks. 3D cinema trips? Start with seconds and work your way up, lots of praise and distractions etc, and very best for next time round!

 

L&P

 

BD

[Pippin]

Waiting is probably the best thing to do if you aren't worried. But if you are, then ask for her to be referred for a hospital eye test. They have huge experience with disabled kids and are able to assess vision with very little response from young or disabled children. Your Optometrist or GP should be able to refer you.

[Sally44]

We had to return about a year later for my son to complete this test.

There are lots of things about it that are difficult for an ASD child.

The eye drops, the glasses frames, the questions, the switching of focus from what she is showing to looking at the card on your lap, literal interpretation etc etc.

 

My son did pass it when he was around 4.5

One difficulty we found was that he did not 'see' what the optician was showing eg. she was showing a picture of a cow and he did not respond that he could see it. After the test I asked him questions and he thought the picture was a dog! So it maybe worth getting the optician to show the pictures to your child first and for your child to label what he thinks they are, and for the optician to use that interpretation.

 

As there are also language and communication problems with an ASD there are lots of other reasons why they might fail.

Eg. understanding pronouns.

Understanding what is required of them (you could play some games of matching with your child in the run up to the next test).

Does your child appear selectively deaf?

There maybe auditory processing problems too.

 

I would say leave it until they assess him again (usually in 6 months). If he still cannot do it I would recommend you speak with the speech therapist and ask them if they can advice the optician on how to complete this assessment for successfully.

 

But my other advice is that if he is finding this task very difficult he may similarily struggle with all language based learning/instructions in the classroom. So you need to keep an eye on that. And the more severe the language/auditory processing problems there are the more likely it is that they have a specific learning difficulty such as dyslexia. I know concerns about that are way in the future. But file this info in the back of your mind for future reference if these difficulties translate over into difficulties acquiring literacy skills.

Edited March 22, 2011 by Sally44