My 8yo son is getting glasses, they will be ready next week. He has gone kicking/screaming (literally) through the process of getting his vision test, picking out frames, etc. He HATES the idea of wearing glasses (even though everyone in our family has poor vision) and has been expressing a lot of angry feelings about it. I know that a lot of it is just getting used to how he looks in glasses and starting to appreciate how much better he will be able to see.
But with school starting next week, I am looking for info on how other parents have dealt with this issue. Incentives, rewards? Ways to encourage wearing them a little bit each day? Any help or ideas are welcome. Side note: He also has Sensory Processing Disorder and can be really distracted and bothered by new/different sensations on his skin.
Addition: I am looking for more than "just make him wear them, no option". My DS loves nothing better than a power struggle. He thrives on them. So while I am very happy to set a rule of when he has to wear them (I don't think it is reasonable or necessary to insist he wear them all the time...his eyesight isn't that bad yet), I am looking for ways to temper the adjustment (not permanent rewards or incentives).
LOL, I can only laugh now about all the drama he created with getting his eyes checked, picking out glasses, and the resistance to going and picking them up. As soon as the optician put the finished glasses on his face, he looked around and went WOW! He says he still hates how he looks in the mirror but he takes great care of them and wears them almost all the time because he can see so much better. It also turns out that 3 other kids in his class showed up this year with new glasses so he doesn't feel alone.
Sorry I have to agree with Mindy. My daughter started wearing them at 4 and it was never an option. Once we realized she needed them, that's all there was to it. I'm sorry he's 8 years old and needs to start understanding that somethings in life aren't an option and they don't have to have incentive or rewards to do it...we just do it.
I would not offer any incentives or rewards. Wearing glasses is not optional. It is a must and it is to his benefit. Don't ease him into them. Give them to him and tell him when he must wear them. Bribes and rewards make it into a game.
You should also mention to his teachers that he needs the glasses. My son tried to get out of wearing his at school but I had already told the teacher that he should be wearing them. I had a friend in grade school who was not allowed to participate in the gifted program until her family bought her glasses.
My son's prescription is not so strong yet that he has to wear them all the time at home, but it's on his "list" of how to get dressed. He has to be completely dressed for school to play for a few minutes in the morning, including underwear, socks, shoes, and glasses. He used to complain that the TV and other lights were too bright. We got him the transitions lenses and that's another incentive for him to wear them.
Give him a goal to achieve. If he shows he can be responsible and wear his glasses and take care of them as he should when he is 10 or 12 or whatever age you feel is approprate but make sure you give him the age, he can get contacts. Tell him he needs to show responsiblity with the glasses because being careless with contacts can harm the eyes and can cause blindness. If he doesn't like wearing the glasses this will give him the ability to get rid of them and a goal to reach to do it.
My daughter has worn them since she was one and we went through an I don't want to wear them phase about a year a go. Like others have said - NOT AN OPTION. No games, no bribes - the glasses go on AND stay on all day. Also make sure he knows that they aren't a toy for other kids to try on!!
Kids are getting contact lenses SO much earlier these years... maybe a long term goal you could have with him is if he does well w/ the glasses he can get contacts in 1 or 2 years.
All that being said... w/ the sensory issues this will take time and it will be more difficult than w/ a child w/no sensory issues. good luck!
Why not make it fun? Keep a mirror nearby, and keep letting him look in it, and brag about what a handsome boy he is. "Wow look at that good looking boy with the glasses on!! " Get everyone involved if you can. Maybe it will make him laugh, then maybe he'll let down his defenses. Good luck!!
Well, I have an 8 year old boy, and although he does not wear glasses, right now it's all about being "manly" and "handsome" so maybe chat up those aspects?!
I started wearing gasses in first grade and my mother (40 years later) rags about how well I took care of them, never broke or lost them. I guess I just accepted them as a fact of life. But I was younger than 8.
Good luck.
I LOVE kids in glasses!
I wouldn't bribe or give rewards for any behavior you want your child to adopt, and I've had to wear glasses since I've been in third grade. Everyone else in my family had them, so it was somewhat expected that I'd have to wear them, too.
I have heard of people making it fun to wear them, though. I've heard of folks letting the child put his glasses on his teddy bear to wear them while he sleeps.
Do consider contacts when he is older and able to handle the responsibility. Glasses do impede while playing sports and while using a microscope (think about lab experiments). Good luck.
