What to expect from your first visit

At your first visit you will see one of our highly trained orthoptists who will take about 15-20 minutes to assess the vision of your child, his/her eye movements and 3 dimensional vision amongst other assessments. The tests that can be performed vary according to the age of the child.

Drops are often placed in the eye at this stage. The purpose of the drops is to make the pupils large and to relax the eyes’ accommodation. This is because the eye doctor will want to look at the back of the eyes and also check if your child requires glasses.

The drops can sting so if the child is aware that drops are going into the eye and perhaps practices in the shower/bath beforehand it will ensure that there are no surprises on the day of the visit. We have found this makes a big difference to children if they know what to expect.

The drops take 30 minutes to work and your child’s vision will be blurred for 24 hours. The pupils will be dilated (big) for this period of time so please be aware that your child’s vision will be blurred.

Infants who are between 18 months and 3 years are often unhappy to be examined (can vary according to the child) and the eye doctor will cajole the child in order to look at his/her eyes. Please be aware that this can be very difficult sometimes, but usually takes about 10-20 minutes.

The eye doctor will take into account all the findings before providing you with a diagnosis and treatment schedule. Please allow 90 minutes for the entire assessment.