Question
My 8-year-old son recently had his eyes examined and received the following prescription: +1, -0.25, 180; +1, -0.25, 005. Also, he was 20/40 in one eye and 20/30 in the other. What exactly does this indicate? Is this mild or moderate? Will he outgrow it? Could his eyesight cause him difficulty copying information from the chalkboard to his paper correctly? Thank you for any input.
Answer
Hi Kaye,
Your son is mildly farsighted, has an insignificant astigmatism, and may well outgrow it. However, his acuity of 20/40 does not jive with that prescription. A mildly farsighted child should still see 20/20 without glasses. Be that as it may, if he had a problem or a complaint with school work or reading, then do get the glasses and see if it helps. If he had no problem nor complaint, then no glasses would be recommended. Perhaps his young age or nervousness prevented him from reading the eyechart as well as we expect or there is is another explanation. He should be able to see 20/20 with or without some glasses, so make sure that was the case or have him examined again.
Regards,
Mitch Axelod, OD
