Wow.  I would be good to know the Rx (both eyes). Any potential damage
would depend on that more than anything else.

w.stacy, o.d.

It's a pretty big gaffe, but patching is usually still effective at age 6 or
7, so the setback could be minor.

What refraction did they determine?

-MT

Dear wayne,

"for the past 10 months, my 3 year old child has been wearing
eyeglasses every day to correct short sight.  We discovered today that
the corrective lens has been applied to the wrong eye.  In addition,
we have been patching his weak eye each day instead of his stronger
eye."

Yikes.

"I am livid,"

Don't blame you, sir.

"I insist that he wears his glasses and patches,
both of which he hates"

If he hates wearing them, don't force the poor kid. Children are nature's
best scientists, optometrists, and ophthalmologists. They know what's best
for themselves. Young children are our experts of medicine - they have to be,
in order to survive until they can reproduce. This is nature's order.

The way I see it - if his body rejects the glasses and the patches, then
clearly the body is sending a message: Get these bloody crutches off of me,
and leave me to do the recovering.

"I have
possibly made it worse."

Afraid so.

"Before I make a complaint to his optician, I would welcome any advice
as to what harm, if any, has been caused to his sight by this error-
( Forcing his good eye to compensate for the corrective lens, as well
as the loss of 9 months of correction)."

Quite some harm. At such a tender age, I find it disgusting, outrageous,
atrocious, obscene, that an innocent child should be forced to wear man's sin
of an invention: glasses. It would be enough to make the angels weep.

My advice: Throw away the patch, throw away the glasses, and let him see with
his own eyes, the spectacular organ that nature has gifted us with. Let him
enjoy natural sight - at least for now. Make sure that he regularly goes
outside and plays in the sun - of course this is what normal children are
inclined to do. Ensure that he lives a stress free life.  The kid hasn't even
entered education yet, so what need is there for him to wear glasses?

Take my advice, don't burden your son with ophthalmology's ultimate error.

At least, I plead to you - don't place spectacles on him for 3 years.. After
this time has elapsed, do what you will with him. Yep, put glasses on him,
patch him, what ever. But, and I bet you on this one, by the time he's a six
year old, he won't even need glasses. Your child will thank you when he's
older - when he sees a generation of bespectacled people in the world. "What
a strange sight", he will say, and people will ask him in awe how it feels to
see the world for real, through REAL eyes, real vision. With regret they will
say: 'How I wish my parents had not bound me to a lifetime of misery, chained
to dependence on glasses. Please teach me the ways of perfect vision.'
Perhaps they will learn. Perhaps they will not. But the fate of the next
generation lies in our hands, and I'm willing to take responsibility. The
fact is that, except in rare cases, man is not a reasoning being. He is
dominated by authority, and when the facts are not in accord with the view
imposed by authority, so much the worse for the facts. They may and indeed
must win in the long run; but int he meantime the world gropes needlessly in
darkness and endures much suffering that might have been avoided.

A philosopher once stated that truth goes through three steps. First, it is
ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. And thirdly, it is accepted as
self-evident.

I have a dream, Wayne - Maybe some future day when these teachings become
mainstream principles a museum will house a chamber of horrors displaying
artifacts of the iatrogenic era. Animated lifelike figures in a "Blind Faith"
section could depict people straining to see through Coke-bottle glasses,
poking bloodshot eyes to insert contact lenses and having corneas burned by
lasers. Aghast parents will be at a loss to explain to their children how so
many people willingly paid to be maltreated in the name of progress.

Just one kid's opinion,

-Kaze

that is very upsetting.  has his vision been retested and proper
treatment started? I believe the right therapy along with closer
monitoring will correct the situation.
good luck.

I am due to meet with his consultant next week, I will request a copy
of his prescription, and post it here, and also the results of his
retesting, so there should be an indication of whether his sight has
deteriorated.  Thanks for your supportive answers, much appreciated,

regards,

Wayne

Dear Wayne,

Perhaps you could give us some additional information:

1.  What was the original complaint?

2.  Did the optician discuss alternatives.

3.  What was the written prescription, i.e., -2 D,
or with some astigmatism?

As you might know, there are ophthamologist who believe
that (unless absolutly necessary) a child should not be
put into a lens at that age (as the second-opinion).

This option should have been discussed with you by
a true professional.

It seems you were poorly informed of these details,
which is the reason for your justified concern.

Otis

Do yourself a big favor, Wayne, and ignore the advice given to you by
the 15-yr old Kaze, who considers herself an expert on eye issues.