Frames for baby blue.

There is something magical about Wade’s eyes. From the moment he fixed his eyes onto mine, on the day he was born, I have been drowning in those pools of wisdom. He says more with his eyes than he can with gestures and speech. Without a doubt, I love those crystal blue eyes more than anything so I was very worried when at about 9 months old, I noticed that his eyes weren’t tracking together. It would only happen for a second or two but it was there. Luckily Wade’s uncle and aunt who are both optometrists were staying with us not long after it started happening and recommended that we see an ophthalmologist.

We booked in and the ophthalmologist examined his eyes through this binocular type device and identified that he is very long sighted. She explained that when the eyes look long distance they should be at rest but if you are long sighted, they struggle to focus causing eye strain and fatigue which can cause one eye to drop inwards. This is known as Accommodative Esotropia and is quite common with people with Down Syndrome due to the low muscle tone. Low muscle tone is best described as the muscles having to work harder than normal to achieve the same outcome. Like walking in water or walking uphill. It is not the same as muscle strength. Therefore, if you are long sighted and your eye muscles are straining to focus, they work even harder if you have low tone which causes the weaker eye to give up and eventually it can drop inwards permanently if left untreated. This can mean eye surgery or permanent vision impairment.