(Nearly) Unbreakable Glasses for Children

Last November we discovered our 4-year-old foster daughter needed glasses. She came to live with us last July from another foster family; she had been in care for 18 months at that time. I was a little disappointed to hear how bad her eye site was; 20/40 in one eye and 20/60 in the other but felt confident that glasses would make all the difference for her.

Being in foster care, the child is covered by Georgia Medicaid so the glass frames you can choose from are not all that great. We picked out a pair that we thought would work the best and waited for their arrival.

The day before Christmas Eve 2008 the glasses arrived. The first night the little one sat and watched TV for the first time every. She had been missing so much! I was hopeful that we were going to be successful with the glasses.

That hope lasted for about 3 weeks. She managed to lose a lens. We had to order a new one. This one we had to pay for. About two weeks after that the whole frame broke. Medicaid pays for one pair of glasses a year so we went to a local Lenscrafters and bought a pair of glasses that fit better.

During the next eight months we went through seven other pair of glasses. We were in Lenscrafters about every other week getting frames adjusted, lens replaced. I was about at my wits ends when I saw the neatest pair of glasses on a little boy at church. They were made of rubber.

At our next visit to the eye doctor I was pleasantly surprised when the doctor handed me information about the glass frames I had seen on the little boy.

The frames are by a company named Miraflex. Their Flexible and Safe frames have no metal components or hinges and are safe and comfortable for young children, babies, and those with special needs. These glasses come in sizes to fit children from the age of 3 months to tween years. There is a couple of different shapes and many different colors to chose from.

We left the doctor’s appointment with a new eye glass prescription and headed toward one of the two stores in our area that carry the frames. The five year took her time in reviewing all the colors available and the different styles. She settled on rectangle pink frames. The glasses are not cheap, I spent around $200 dollars for them; but given the fact that I had to buy other pairs about every month the $200 was a good investment.

We have had the glasses for about a month now. So far we have not lost the glasses, or damaged them in any way. With no hinges, no eye pads, and a build in strap to hold the glasses on this pair only comes off when they are supposed only.

If you find yourself with a little one that keeps destroying or losing their glasses check out www.miraflex.info . The site shows you the colors and shapes available and has a store locator as well. If you don’t find a store near you give the information to you eye doctor and have them check on getting the glasses sold in your area.

I am looking forward to only have to buy glasses once a year now!