A good optometrist for kids

Andrew Watkins. He’s in the city. Great for me.

BTW what’s the deal on a bad review of an optometerist … do we get pinged for defamation … or does the name get moderated out of the post???

+1 for Mark Feltham. I have been seeing him since I was about 5 yrs old, and my son is treated by him now. Excellent with kids.

What you require is a behavioural optometrist. A behavioural optometrist will be able to assess the child’s ability to scan across the page correctly, read from distance etc, check for problems with eye function etc.

He bulk bills too

I think most Optometrists will bulk bill one appointment every 12m (or 2y).

I took my 6yo to Optorica at Weston Creek and the guy was very good. She doesn’t need glasses but we were told after her Kindergarten health screening at school to re-test in 12m.

Both of us had great difficulty not getting the giggles when he put the big thick Harry Potter-esque frames on her 🙂

I second every recommendation for Mark Feltham. He is not motivated by money like many other practitioners and doesn’t push laser surgery (I think he did his thesis on complications of treatment). He is the most ethical eye specialist I have known since Larry Lowth. He used to be next to OPSM but moved his practice when they wanted him to be their tame optometrist.

He does retinopathy examinations too so you don’t have to go to (the rather strange) Leo.

Kuku said :

Dr Tridgell in University Avenue Civic is a good Ophthalmologist. He used to (and may still) look after the premmies in TCH NICU.

Otherwise for great service try McKinley’s Optical in Civic adjacent to the carousel. They also have an optometrist on site (who bulk bills).

Second that on Dr. Tridgell, he cured my oldest daughters squint and was so inspiring that she is now in year 10 and studying hard because she wants to be an opthamologist.

troll-sniffer said :

For the best care for your son’s eyes an opthalmologist is always a good idea. Less likelihood of commercial pressures affecting decisions and recommendations. And of course chances are you would be referred to a good optometrist for the treatment etc.

Dead right Troll-Sniffer (no, I’m not an opthalmologist).

I’ve seen Mark Feltham in the past as well. Very competent I’d say. Also he used to open early in the mornings so you could see him and still be at work by 8:30 – don’t know what hours he does these days.

james simpson, in the arcade that once housed sammy’s (a bakery is there now – optometrist opposite inside), is great…

though i am not a seven year old (who’d have guessed?)

I’d second Mark Feltham. I’ve been seeing him since I was a kid. He was always fun to visit when I was a kid and, I dare say, if I’d done the eye exercises that he prescribed for me, I might not be wearing glasses today.

He bulk bills too, but I’d gladly pay cash to see him.

Both optometrists at Laubman and Pank in Tuggeranong (neither of whose names I can remember) were great with our kids. Also, when we got some glasses for offspring number one from Specsavers in Tuggeranong, they were really good too.