Contact Lenses restore confidence in Cheltenham twins
Local identical twins Molly and Jessica have dispelled the myth that young children can’t wear contact lenses. Thanks to Cheltenham-based optometrist Clare Holland, the 10-year-old twins have swapped their glasses for contacts and reaped the benefits, proving many opticians wrong in the process.
Molly and Jessica are both identical in appearance and in their condition. They are short sighted, having both been prescribed identical prescriptions for glasses when they were 7-years-old by optometrist Clare Holland, of Keith Holland & Associates.
The twins wore glasses to school for two years until Molly was teased by a school friend in a familiar manner. Soon, Molly’s confidence began to fade; she refused to go to school or even leave the house wearing her glasses. Naturally, sister Jessica copied.
Molly and Jessica’s mother grew increasingly concerned at the girls’ refusal to wear glasses to school. Worried it would begin to affect their learning, she took them back to the Keith Holland practice to see what could be done.
Clare Holland suggested that Molly and Jessica tried contact lenses. The Keith Holland practice strongly disagrees with the popular opinion that young children shouldn’t wear lenses, as Clare comments:
“We believe every child should be given the opportunity to wear contact lenses, especially if it is affecting their confidence at school and potentially their ability to learn, as was the case with Molly and Jessica.
Every child’s maturity should be assessed on an individual basis with input from their parents. In the majority of cases we find that children as young as four or five take to contact lenses very well indeed. Also, the availability of disposables means that caring for contact lenses is now far easier. I often find that switching to contact lenses fills children with confidence. This can only be a good thing.”
Molly and Jessica’s mum says that the girls loved the idea of wearing contact lenses,
“They learnt how to put the lenses in properly very quickly. Molly had to go back three times to make sure she was fully confident but Jessica picked it up straight away. Now the girls have been wearing contact lenses for several months and their confidence has dramatically improved. They are ten times more confident! For example, Jessica is playing netball now, something she would have never done before. Every child should be given the option to wear contact lenses, especially if it makes them as confident as Molly and Jessica.”
