Your appointment at the orthoptic department (SCD pathway) at Ryegate Children’s Centre

Ryegate Children’s Centre

Your child has been seen by the neurodisability team at Ryegate or referred by a member of the team. This may have also been via the school vision screening team.

As part of that pathway we arrange an eye test and an appointment for you to attend. The eye test will be done by an orthoptist who is a specialist in testing children’s eyes. They will assess your child’s vision and find out if the eye muscles are working correctly.

What if my child is already under an eye service?

We have made every effort to avoid duplication by checking our system to make sure you are not already attending Ryegate or Sheffield Children’s eye department.

We do not have access to other local hospital records or optometry practices.  If you are already under the care of another department, please let us know so we can cancel this appointment and offer it to someone else who is waiting.

Testing your child’s vision

It is important for us to test each eye separately to see if one eye is weaker than the other.  We might use a patch or some glasses to cover one eye in order to do this.  It would help if you could practice covering an eye one at a time as a game before you come. Even if just with your hand playing ‘I spy with one eye’.

We test your child’s vision by asking them to name or sign letters and pictures, or match letters and pictures on a card. Another way we can assess vision in non-verbal children and young people is by an observation test using pictures or black and white stripes on a card.

Other tests will be done to check how well their eyes work together.  The emphasis is very much on ‘looking games’ rather than eye testing, as a lot of information can be gained about a child’s vision by observing them in a play situation which is called ‘functional vision’

What happens next?

If your child has an eye problem such as reduced vision, squint or a strong family history, the orthoptist will discuss referral to the optometrist or consultant ophthalmologist on a different day either at Ryegate or at Sheffield Children’s.

After your child’s examination

If the orthoptist finds your child’s eyes are normal they may be discharged.

It may be necessary to continue to monitor your child’s vision. For example, if no problem was found but testing was incomplete and we think that testing at your local optometrist or school entry vision screening would not be possible.

It is very important that children’s eye problems are treated as soon as possible. By the time your child is 7 years old the eyesight is fully developed and sometimes it is too late to treat some eyesight problems satisfactorily at this stage.