Transitions lenses & light sensitivity

[LoubyLou]

Does anyone know if we can get any help with funding transitions lenses for a 12-year-old with high-functioning autism? He's had a sensory evaluation & definitely has problems with light, there are certain shops he just won't enter due to lighting & the transitions lenses really help dramatically, also with coping with sunlight coming through windows at school, going out etc. However his eyesight is rapidly changing & at the moment he's needing new specs every 3 months, for which we have to fund the transitions lenses each time. I've tried asking the optician, but I wondered if anyone else knows if there's any way we can get the funding for these covered as it's definitely a medical need. The other alterntive of course would be prescription sunglasses, however he loses things a lot (pre-glasses I just bought lots of cheap pairs of sunglasses & kept them in key places!), & again these would need changing each time as his eyesight is changing quite dramatically & rapidly at the moment (within weeks after his new glasses arrive signs etc are already looking blurred!). Has anyone successfully secured funding for transitions lenses due to to light hypersensitivity?

[darkshine]

Haven't a clue about transitions lenses - but I can totally recommend polarized lenses over prescription sunglasses any day - they cost more but they are really good and remove a hell of a lot of the glare

[Special_talent123]

you could ask the optician if you have tinted glasses, i have sun glasses and normal glasses on prescription because i cannot see without glasses. are you on benefits for prescription glasses because in specsavers its only £12.90 for tinted or pay of sun glasses

Edited July 23, 2012 by Special_talent123

[robert7111a]

Polarizing lenses are amazing (I use them for driving and my photography) but they are expensive and doubt they'll be available on prescription.

 

Sorry I can't help specifically with your question

[LoubyLou]

Thanks for the replies everyone, sorry I only just found them!! I haven't found out any more about help with the cost - for the transitions lenses we pay £50 each time at our opticians, then the rest is free on child prescription. I'll ask the optician about polarizing lenses; these is different to anti-glare? So many different types of lenses!

 

Really he should also have a pair of tinted ones for reading as these also really help, but we just can't afford these on top every 3 months at the moment (last time they were £250). Personally I do have separate sunglasses for the summer months but organising these for my son would be a nightmare (as he doesn't have a handbag!), I think they'd just end up being lost every 5 mins, & not having them when we needed them etc. With the transitions at least they change automatically so he doesn't have to think about changing/losing.

[darkshine]

Ok, just realised that transition lenses are what I know as reactions.

 

Tinted lenses should be free on the NHS for every child under 16 - buying when they have offers for buy one get one free can help with this as you would only be paying the cost for the transitions... and you'd have a spare frame.

 

Polarised lenses are much better - but they cost more too - I'd wait for his eyes to stabilise before considering this.

 

Anti glare is just a coating, all this does is reduce glare slightly - if you go to certain opticians this comes as standard for no extra cost - same as scratch resist coatings....

 

His prescription changing every 3 months sounds very excessive to me - do you know what it is changing by? And why?

Edited July 28, 2012 by darkshine

[LoubyLou]

Thanks for the detailed reply darkshine, so helpful! I completely forgot to ask about polarised lenses, however the optician did suggest going for cheaper transition-type ones (I didn't realise that Transitions was the brand-name & we were paying a lot extra for that). So the ones he has now just cost £20 & although they seem slower to change shade/adapt he's very happy with them.

 

The prescription this time changed by a +1 in the 3 months but only in one eye; within a few weeks of getting the last pair he was struggling to read signs that we could see clearly. However I think it's just due to rapid growth? He's almost 13 & getting through clothes at a healthy rate of knots so I thought it was simply due to being a teenager. It's still a fairly low prescription though so I'm not worried about it. It hadn't even occurred to me whether it could be due to anything else. The opticians do seem a bit suprised about the rate of change. Could it be due to anything else?

[Special_talent123]

I have sunglasses - if there tinted or sunglasses prescription with your free glasses it costs 12.90 from specsavers

[Lyndalou]

A friend came to visit the other day. I don't know if this is any use but she was wearing Iridium Lenses and gave her specs to me to try on. They had a yellow tint and when I put them on I was completely taken aback that it had a profound effect on my mood! Instant mood elevation and I'm going to look into this more as I never considered that a pair of glasses could do this!

[darkshine]

Thanks for the detailed reply darkshine, so helpful! I completely forgot to ask about polarised lenses, however the optician did suggest going for cheaper transition-type ones (I didn't realise that Transitions was the brand-name & we were paying a lot extra for that). So the ones he has now just cost £20 & although they seem slower to change shade/adapt he's very happy with them.

 

That sounds like a better price, although I would consider shopping around a bit if possible, or at least enquiring to see if other opticians can do it cheaper... the one mentioned recently is usually quite good on price.

 

The prescription this time changed by a +1 in the 3 months but only in one eye; within a few weeks of getting the last pair he was struggling to read signs that we could see clearly. However I think it's just due to rapid growth? He's almost 13 & getting through clothes at a healthy rate of knots so I thought it was simply due to being a teenager. It's still a fairly low prescription though so I'm not worried about it. It hadn't even occurred to me whether it could be due to anything else. The opticians do seem a bit suprised about the rate of change. Could it be due to anything else?

 

A +1 is a whole stage in prescription change, it's quite a lot, but I wouldn't go so far as to say excessive, but you did say his eyes have been changing quite progressively....

 

Here's the thing... a +1 refers to long sightedness, and -1 to short sightedness, as the number goes up or down, the vision gets worse, so a +3 is worse than a +1, and a -3 is worse than a -1. There are quarter stages between each number, so you can get a -1.25, -1.50. -1.75 etc for both plus or minus prescriptions. A quarter stage isn't too much too worry about, my own prescription changed continually every year during my teens for a few years and then slowed (this was from about a -1.50 at 12 to -3.25 by 16) and it changed by quarter or half stages and then thankfully stabilised a little, although my eyesight is a bit worse now.

 

What can also change the quality of vision is whether a person has an astigmatism, this is the shape of the eye (I'm not so sure what those numbers are, they also go in stages) and the more oval a eye goes, the worse the astigmatism and the more it effects eyesight.

 

As an example, you could have someone who was shortsighted and a -4 prescription, and someone with a fairly bad astigmatism with only a -1, and both people could have similar problems with vision (although the person with an astigmatism would get more distorted, warping and potentially movement).

 

Back to your son....

 

Because of his age he might not have had the full tests, there are others besides the usual eye test, they next time he says he needs new glasses, I would ask to have him fully tested to check everything out.

 

If the opticians are surprised at the rate of change have they done other tests? There are a few others that a lot of people don't have... The one I have in mind is where they can take a picture of the inside of the eye and check it out to make sure everything is as it should be - your son might find this interesting if he hasn't had it done and it's nothing scary, just another thing to look through, and then an image comes up on a screen.

 

Hope this helps

 

Best

 

Darkshine

[LoubyLou]

Thanks that's really helpful. Off to get some Iridium lenses for myself!...

 

I'm sorry I got it wrong, it's changed by a -1 as he's shortsighted, oops. The current optician specialises in diabetes - with vascular changes etc (ok that's my old training coming out of the box!, not in opthalmics though) being something in particular to look out for in the retina in diabetes I'd imagine they may well have the picture technology where we are now (they are extremely high-tech!), so I can always ask on our next visit (which will very soon come round again), thanks. That's really interesting about the astigmatism - definitely something to watch out for, & thank you so much for putting it so clearly too!

[darkshine]

You're welcome, sounds like you're at a good place to get all that checked out thoroughly, hope all goes well, and that his eyes settle soon.

 

The optician can let you know if there's anything (such as astigmatism) that could be making a difference.

 

Best wishes

 

Darkshine

[LoubyLou]

Update: Things are quite stable now & are working well - ds has reactolite lenses for his main glasses which are expensive (cheaper make is no longer available, grr!), for everyday use. He also has 2 pairs (Specsavers! ) of sunglasses for use indoors where the lighting is unbearably bright (school & shops). This is more expensive than clip-on sunglasses which we got direct from China on Ebay to keep the cost down, but I feel I'm doing a better job sending him out into the (difficult) world in his teens wearing shades rather than clip-ons. Maybe one day someone will invent lenses which can be switched at will, until then we have to make do with 2 different types of specs, but that means we can go anywhere, as long as we have the dark glasses to hand.

Edited July 5, 2015 by LoubyLou

[laurasd]

Hi,

 

you should be able to get funding. I have Irlen Lens syndrome myself and got funding for the glasses. However, in my case, it came in the form of student finance, so I am not sure how it would work for a twelve year old.