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Specialist Services at Specs

Vision and Learning     i-GO     Pachymetry     Topography

Vision and Learning Helping children with specific learing difficulties. Should my child have further assessment? The first step with any child is to have a full eye examination which free is of charge to you, being covered by the NHS. This will check if there is any need for spectacles or ocular health issue that could explain any visual difficulties. A child with difficulties who is found to have no significant refractive error (spectacle prescription), or who presents with classic symptoms of specific learning difficulties such as "words jumping on the page" will then be recommended for further assessment. This appointment is not covered by the NHS at present, and private fees will apply. What should we expect? The assessment is designed to detect any visual factors which may be contributing to a child's difficulties. These may or may not be related to any diagnosed Specific Learning disability. During this test your optometrist will concentrate on the co-ordination of the two eyes (binocular vision). Muscle weaknesses or strain found by these tests certainly explain difficulty sustaining focus when reading. They will also check your child's ability to focus on near objects in order to make text clear (accommodate). Should any of these tests find areas of weakness then simple eye exercises will be issued for your child to perform at home. Finally your child will be assessed for "Meares- Irlen Syndrome" which is a certain sensitivity for colour where using a prescribed coloured overlay increases the speed of reading. A recent study found that about 50% of normal school children will choose a coloured overlay as improving the clarity of text and 20% will use their overlay long term voluntarily. 5% of these children read more than 25% faster. Should your child demonstrate an improvement whilst using their selected individual overlay then a specific coloured A5 sheet will be issued. The child should never be forced to use the overlay as voluntary use of the overlay is evidence itself that it is helping. Follow up Following your child's examination a thorough report will be provided for your reference and another fully documented report will be sent to your child's appropriate teacher so they are fully aware of our findings and recommendations. Most children are recommended to return 3 - 4 weeks after their initial assessment where the results of exercises will be investigated and the effect of using the overlays discussed. Please note All our further testing and treatment recommendations are fully investigated and scientifically proven to be of benefit. There are many other vision training/ tests available but currently there is lack of scientific evidence to support them. We are not able to diagnose a specific learning disability. Our job is to try and find any visual factors which may be contributing to a child's difficulties. Our role is to work as part of a muliti-disciplinary team with your child's teachers and educational psychologists. To download this information as a PDF click on:- SPECIFIC LEARNING DIFFICULTIES

Back to the Top      Vision and Learning     i-GO     Pachymetry     Topography

i-Go at Specs of Kensington Imagine waking up each morning with prefect vision and not having to wear contact lenses or glasses through the day. i-GO overnight vision correction (OVC) lenses correct your vision whilst you sleep so you remove them each morning to leave you with crisp unaided vision through the day. i-GO lenses are custom made lenses which gently reshape your eyes while you sleep. They are suitable if you are moderately short sighted (myopic) up to -5 and even if you have mild astigmatism up to -1.5. The effect is reversible and the risks are no greater than with daytime contact lenses. Check out the i-GO website and watch the video on YouTube to find out how it works. You can also read about us in the travel section of the Evening Standard and the testimonial of Jo Fernandez, Evening Standard Travel Journalist. How it works in terms of fitting appointments and what it costs: At Specs of Kensington we are dedicated to giving you the best eye care possible and that applies to our approach to looking after your eyes if you choose to have OVC. The ongoing cost of wearing OVC is about the same as wearing the best quality Daily Disposable Contact Lenses. To start with, you will come in for a consultation to discuss your suitability for OVC. If it's been more than 6 months since your last full eye examination or you don't have an up-to-date written prescription, then we'll need to do an eye examination for you too. The cost of this initial consultation is just £59 (or £89 if you need the eye examination as well). If you prove to be a suitable candidate for OVC and you decide you'd like to go ahead to try lenses out, then you will pay a fee of £200 and we will order your first pair of lenses. The fees you have paid will cover you not only for the initial visit and this first pair of lenses, but also for all the appointments within the following 4 weeks. (Teach and issue appointment, next morning follow-up, 1week follow-up and 1 month follow-up., plus any extra appointments that might be needed within this time.) That's it - no long term commitments until you see if OVC is right for you - peace of mind that your suitability for OVC is well established before you proceed to use OVC as your longer term vision correction of choice. If, after the first month, you wish to carry on wearing OVC, you will put in place a DD for £59.00 per month. This monthly payment covers you for all your ongoing contact lens check-ups as an OVC wearer, both routine and unscheduled, as well as routine eye examinations, as needed. It also covers the cost of a new pair of lenses every six months, which is the time frame on which they should be routinely replaced, as well as your contact lens care products. The only extra cost you might incur would be if you need any extra lenses because of loss or breakage. Call us today to book an appointment for your initial evaluation. You'll need at least an hour for this and if you need an eye examination as well please allow an hour and a half. We look forward to seeing you. Daska Barnett & Elaine Styles - your OVC accredited Contact Lens Practitioners To download this information as a PDF click on:- i-GO.

Back to the Top      Vision and Learning     i-GO     Pachymetry     Topography

Pachymetry Recent discoveries about the cornea, the clear part of the eye's protective covering, are showing that corneal thickness is an important factor in accurately diagnosing eye pressure. When we measure the IOP we don't always get a truly accurate reading. The IOP reading depends on the thickness of the cornea, thicker corneas cause falsely higher eye pressure readings and thinner corneas cause falsely lower eye pressure readings Your corneal thickness therefore affects your risk for glaucoma, and knowing what your corneal thickness is can make your diagnosis more accurate. With an ultrasonic device called a Pachymeter we can measure your corneal thickness. It is also know that people with a thin central corneal less than 0.555mm are significantly more at risk of developing Primary Open Angle Glaucoma.

Back to the Top      Vision and Learning     i-GO     Pachymetry     Topography

Corneal topography This is a process for mapping the surface curvatue of the cornea, similar to making a contour map of the land. The cornea is the clear part on the surface of the eye that a contact lens fits over. About 70% of the eyes focusing power is done by the cornea so its shape can determine the visual ability of the eye. A perfect eye has an evenly rounded shape, but sometimes the cornea is too flat making it long-sighted, too steep making it short-sighted or unevenly curved causing astigmatism (rugby ball shaped).

The pupose of corneal topography is to produce a detailed description of the corneal shape and power. We can use the computerized imaging technology to produce a 3 dimensional map. This is a fantastic tool for giving a base-line of the shape of the cornea and monitoring the health for any changes that may be caused by contact lenses.

Back to the Top      Vision and Learning     i-GO     Pachymetry     Topography