Severly Farsighted 4 yr old and short attention span

My son got is first pair of glasses in May 08 (5 months ago).  One eye is +7 the other is +7.75 with some astigmatism.  We are currently on our second pair of glasses but not yet up to full strength to correct his vision.  The eye doctor told me my son would probably go through a personality change once he started seeing better.  I am now starting to see this and i'm getting very concerned.  The better he seems to be able to see, the more silly and distractable he becomes.  He is now getting in trouble at preschool for not paying attention and needs to be told multiple times (at home as well) to stop doing things he knows are incorrect.   He went to preschool all last year and never got in trouble and now it seems to be a weekly occurance.  Is this a normal reaction to finally being able to see and what should I be doing to get his behavoir back on track.

Thanks!  

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

Wow, that's a tough question.  I guess I was assuming his behavior would get better.  I have never had the experience in my training that this might lead to worse behavior.  I suspect that he may be more able to interact with his surroundings and peers and maybe coming out of his shell.  Really, you are asking the wrong person.  You need to speak with someone who can help you with typical childhood behavior problems.  I would be happy that he is adapting to his glasses and seeing some improvement in his visual function.  That is great news!  I hope you can find some help with the behavior things - I know 4 years can be tough to deal with sometimes.  Sorry I'm not more help.  I want you to see the vision changes a good thing and take the behavior as a second issue.

MJK MD

[Tammy707]

Thanks for the support.  We are very pleased with the visual improvements he has made.  He is now doing things that he could not do in the past (buckle himself in his carseat, climbing and sliding which he used to be afraid of, drawing shapes/letters etc).  I just expected the change to be for the better.  I feel like he is already going to start school with one strike against him and don't want the behavior to be a second strike.  I know from experience that when kids start school 'behind' it's very difficult for them to catch up.  If anyone has had a similar experience, I'd love to hear about it and what you did.