Female Speaker: A new study finds that children’s self perceptions improved more with contact lens versus glasses and study co-authors, optometrist Doctor Jeffery Walline and Clinical psychologist Doctor Mitchell J Prinstein are here to tell us about it.
Jeffery Walline: Sure, we actually fit about 500 kids of contact lenses and follow them for a period of three years and we found that they do a great job of wearing contact lenses but they also get this value added benefit be on just vision correction. We actually found that they feel better about their own physical appearance. Their athletic abilities and also their acceptance among friends, and ironically for those who didn’t like wearing glasses initially, they also feel better about their school performance.
Mitchell Prinstein: This is really important because psychologist have been try to find ways to boost kids self-esteem for long time, usually to get involved or pretty complicated intervention using lots of different people. To find that kids who wear glasses get switch to contacts can actually get this significant increase in their self-esteem and all these different areas that’s pretty important. It’s also important for kids adjustment because self-esteem and childhood means better transition adolescents and better adjustment in adulthood.
Female Speaker: Why do contact lenses have such a positive effect on children?
Mitchell Prinstein: Well kids that wear glasses sometimes due suffer teasing from their pears they may not wear their glasses as often in school because there in bares, which means they are not going to see the black board, they might not play sports as much. There is some little true, that says that still as esteem with wearing glasses among some kids and this is important because this switch means that kids can put themselves back in those activities they are more able to learn. They are doing the things that we want them to do in school and they feel better about themselves and that’s something that we would always like for kids to do of course.
Host: And do we know, when the child is ready for contact lenses.
Jeffery Walline: I usually tell people don’t base whether or not child is ready for contact lenses on age alone. I think there other important factors, we all know 5 year old kid who can wear a contact lenses but we also know a 25 year old who can’t, so what I tell people is to use the three m’s that’s maturity, motivation and also mother. The matured kids will be able to take care of their contact lenses over a long period of time and motivated child we learn how to put them and take them out right away and a mother will b very important for taking the child to the appointments and also for giving the child enough space to sort of care for the contact lenses on his own or her own. Now we have the one day disposable contact lenses, something like the one day I can give you moist and these contact lenses make it easy for children because all they have to do is throw them away at the end of the day there is no care involved in them.
Host: Where can we go for more info?
Mitchell Prinstein: For more information check with your eye care professional also there is a great – that you can download on vision and performance at safekids.org/eyes
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