I asked my Optometrist if there was any possibility my strabismus could be passed down through my children or grandchildren even though I never saw their eyes drift. My father had it, but I thought I had avoided passing it on to my offspring.

My Optometrist said there could be subtle signs I had missed and recommended I bring them in. That’s why I took my grandson in. We had not seen any symptoms.

She said vision therapy would be the best thing for him. But since his insurance does not cover it right now, she said we could just monitor it closely for now. She said if he starts having problems with school work, he will need the therapy. Meanwhile she is working to get more state-supported help to provide vision therapy for children with strabismus.

My son (age 26, my grandson’s father) still needs to be evaluated for strabismus. I think for children it is more emergent that eye problems are found and treated quickly since they are just developing. But I do hope we can arrange an eye exam for my son sometime this year.

My understanding is that the younger the better. There is a new program that encourages the evaluation of babies for eye problems. I’ll try to get that information posted on the main page of the blog this week!

Lois

3/10/06 — I’ve posted the information about the new program for babies’ eye exams. See: InfantSEE: detecting strabismus in infants. I wish I’d been more aware of the importance of this when my children and grandchildren were infants!