Children's clinic
Sight tests for under-16s are funded by the NHS, and so is a pair of glasses through the voucher scheme. Appointments are booked at 40 minutes rather than 20, because a child who is rushed gives you a result you cannot trust.
A child does not need to know letters, or to speak, to be tested.
Tests that need no reading
Pre-readers are tested on shapes they can point at, or on a matching card held in their own hands. Babies are tested on what they prefer to look at. The measurement is the same measurement; only the asking changes.
Myopia management
Short sight that starts young usually keeps going, and axial length — the physical length of the eye — is what is actually growing. We measure it, plot it, and discuss the options that slow it: specific spectacle lens designs, daily soft lenses designed for the job, and time outdoors, which is free and works.
We will also say when a child's short sight is progressing at a rate that needs nothing but a new prescription each year.
When we refer
A squint, an unequal prescription, or a difference in acuity between the two eyes that does not correct goes to the hospital eye service, usually the same week. Amblyopia treated at six works; treated at twelve, mostly it does not.