Friday 25 October 2013

First Magnifiers


I'm constantly amazed, and humbled, by the generosity of the NHS. If Charlotte needs it, she gets it. We were back at Great Ormond Street Hospital this week for an appointment for magnification devices and visual aids. I had been expecting that we would purchase these for her, but they were all freely given.

This was her first appointment of this type. At 4, she is just old enough to start to make use of them, including understanding them and looking after them. Plus, at 4, she has started her first year of school.




First up is this little beauty: Coil Bright Magnifier, 5850 (the magnification is not shown). She was able to use it immediately, putting over a page and identifying the objects underneath. It is sturdy and she can handle it very easily, she just slides it over the page. I think we will leave this one at school where she can use it for looking at detailed pictures and maybe letters and numbers. It would not be great for reading, it would be a pain to slide it between the lines, but I believe older children use them for reading maps and anything where the details are concentrated in one place.



She was also given this stand magnifier to try out: Coil Stand Magnifier, 5123 (7x magnification). She liked this one better than the dome, perhaps because the magnification is strong and maybe because the dome adds a lot of light to the image underneath. (She kept her sunglasses on for the duration of the appointment, including all eye tests). I'm a little concerned about the durability of this one so I think we will keep it for home, rather than sending it to school. Tonight, she used it to explore the back cover of a Mr Men book, getting a good look at each of those tiny Mr Men.



This is my personal favourite: Eschenbach, Microlux 4x13 Monocular (4x magnification). It is teeny-tiny, light as a feather, has auto-focus and fits into her little pocket like it isn't even there. This could be the thing that she wears on a string around her neck for the rest of her life. Right now, she can use it ok but she doesn't seem to find the world fascinating. It works better for much longer distances, it doesn't focus within a few meters. I love how it folds even smaller by pressing the sides together.

She was also given some binoculars to try but she didn't seem to get the hang of them. They might be useful when she is older. Magnification is kind of an abstract concept, when you think about it. You look through a lens and the picture appears closer, but it isn't inside the device, when you take the device out of the way for a closer look at the object, it recedes and you can't see it properly. So strange!

She had her eyesight tested again. The measurement of her visual capabilities has been an ongoing curiosity for me, so I was really pleased when she co-operated so nicely and was willing to identify smaller and smaller pictures held at a distance. Eventually, she couldn't make out what the pictures were and she kept trying to get off the chair to get a closer look. Her range came out at 6/38, which is far, far better than the 6/60 cutoff for Severely Sight Impaired/Blind. Apparently, children are registered differently from adults and we are not going to change her registration right now.

The appointment was really great, our best visit ever. Everything she tried and liked, the answer was, "OK, keep that one. What about this one?" I could hardly believe it. I certainly wouldn't go shopping like that, it's usually an either/or, but not for this outing. She went home, her monocular tightly zipped in her pocket. She proudly showed her family all her lovely magnifiers, before putting them safely in the cupboard with her sunglasses.