When a child needs to wear corrective lenses, finding a pair the fit well and are comfortable can make all the difference when it comes to persuading little people to keep them on. It can be a battle.

That's how it all began for Maria Dellapina, founder of Specs4us, which makes precision eyewear for children with special needs. Maria combined her day job as an optician with her role as Mother to nine year old Erin, who has Down syndrome, in creating a range of glasses frames that originally were created to "dramatically enhance her (Erin's) abilities to function in eyeglasses".

Speaking about her reasons for developing the frames she says, "I thought I knew what changes needed to be made on a frame to get it to sit correctly on Erin's face," Dellapina explains. "She was always looking over the glasses or tipping her head way back to see through the center of them. So I started drawing up designs. I talked to friends who sold different frame lines to see if they knew how I could get these made. One of them did go to a big children's manufacturer to talk about it. They didn't think there was a market for it. I had done my research and knew that 87 percent of preschool children with DS needed glasses. There was a market for this, and I wanted to help."

“Erin’s World” is the frame line she eventually designed and manufactured to fit children with Down syndrome.  Unlike other frames, the bridge is adjusted to fit on their smaller noses and the temples (some people call them arms) are designed to help keep the glasses from constantly slipping.  Erin's World frames are available in a variety of sizes and styles to fit toddlers to adults.

She ships her frames worldwide and the range can be viewed at www.specs4us.com.

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