Irlen Glasses

stranger said:

They can be prescribed by specialist opticians; but the cost of the glasses (even if you receive full help with the cost of glasses) is horrendous. As someone whose prescription chnages pretty much yearly, it's not worth me paying £200+ for a pair each year.

Good grief.  £200+ for a pair of specialist glasses! :O  That is way excessive and out of most people's reach.

autismtwo said:

Can't be much political mileage in this for the NAS, strange thing is, it is central to the autism condition... What a weird illogical world we live in ? or do we,,,, maybe we are just surrounded by a sea of dogs.

Agreed.  A lot more needs to be done by the NAS across the UK to raise the awareness of how detrimental and unbearable neon and even natural lighting can be for many people and how companies need to find mild lighting, or better still, turn it off, as on most occasions I see lighting, it's on purely for show, in other words unnecessary to be switched on, and wasting electricity.

While there are prejudicial employers around, eg certain so-called 'Care' homes who put their own interests above employees, in many cases I believe the reason for lighting being switched on is due to employers, companies in general not realising that the lighting affects up to several people.

As reasonable adjustments have to be made, by law, by employers to accommodate people with any kind of disabilities, although wishful thinking, the Government ought to make it compulsory for all companies that insist on having neon lighting to replace it.  The problem is, due to the ongoing Recession, even if this were made compulsory, there's insufficient money around for companies to be able to replace their lighting.

You're welcome. It's to do with eye strain, I think. Some people who use overlays need different colours for their lenses. I think that's to do with the distance between what you're reading.

When I was tested, (been tested twice just using overlays) I found that most colours were fine. This made it easier when attending uni, because they didn't stock grey paper (it's not a common colour used, whereas blue and purple are) and it's not possible to get grey lined paper. But I have been told I can make my own.

I now use blue (various shades) paper.

thanks for the added info stranger

If anyone uses the overlays, (I do) the colour for your lenses is meant to be different. And you can't use the overlay and lenses at the same time.

bede said:

It is very complex and choosing by trial and error is unlikley to be be very good - especially for those with profound problems.

 

Although this is true, where the only option avaliable is trial and error with standard tints some problems can be reduced.

For instance, although I still struggle with the pressure sensation, concentraion and co-ordination problems, my headaches have been reduced to the point of significant increase in quality of life and also I do not find mild glare as painful. (more profound glare is still a problem, though) visual movement, car headlights for instance, is much less alarming and as a result easier for me to navigate near.

I could just be lucky with the results I've had, but even trial and error can be better than nothing.

That being said, if you do get the opportunity for a more professional solution, don't pass it up even if this does work for you.

They can be prescribed by specialist opticians; but the cost of the glasses (even if you receive full help with the cost of glasses) is horrendous. As someone whose prescription chnages pretty much yearly, it's not worth me paying £200+ for a pair each year.

Can't be much political mileage in this for the NAS, strange thing is, it is central to the autism condition... What a weird illogical world we live in ? or do we,,,, maybe we are just surrounded by a sea of dogs.

Sorry I've been so long in replying.  Had a lot on.

I like the sound of your practice.

Hopefully in time adults will also be legally entitled to be prescribed for clinical need of filters and tints.

Unfortunately my optician has no solutions who said filters wouldn't work in my case, but I won't give up hope.  Sooner or later there has to be an answer for me, for all of us affected, but it would also help if more businesses would use lower lighting, as it's very clear that many businesses are completely ignorant of the fact that many people suffer from neon lighting and they still insist on switching it on, even when there's plenty of natural light, which also wastes energy, especially impractical in the times of a Recession.

In those cases, I believe there's nothing deliberate or prejudicial about their decisions, as they're clearly unaware that their lighting can cause several people problems, even though they don't realise people can end up with severe headaches, but it's not uncommon that there are prejudicial employers who insist they have to switch the lighting on, just because it suits them, even though they're breaking the law, presumably when they're discriminating against both employed people and those being interviewed who then disguise their reason for turning down a potential employee as "so many people applied for the job"?, as disabled people of all contexts are obliged to have 'reasonable adjustments' made for them.  There would be uproar if a business said they wouldn't accept anyone who can't walk and requires a wheelchair, and rightly so, as that, especially would be grossly unfair. 

When you say I'd have to travel, do you mean to large cities like London, Birmingham or Manchester?

autismtwo said:

let the NAS start a sensitivity campaign on our behalf

I agree.

bede said:

The NAS have known about this for a long time - in fact at least two of their recent trustees have had tinted specs for processing problems - but there is some difficulty with peer reviewed research. We have done some - but it has been ignored - I think it is inconvenient.

That would be right.  Ignorance on other people's parts is what causes unwarranted situations to be unnecessarily prolonged.

I suppose NAS's approach, or lack of, depends on funding and willingness, but hopefully they'll come on in leaps and bounds over time.

I feel that, eventually, awareness will help improve things and anyone with disabilities will be much better catered for.

What is DSM V?

Bede, I agree, but this will make no difference to anything, I sometimes wonder if an actual cure is not economical viable to health institutions. It would be like the gobstopper industry inventing a gobstopper that last forever, the risk to the business would be too much. See how the system works, war weapons, cancer, rusting cars, sinking ships etc. It is just a perpetual turnaround circle economical system.

The NAS have known about this for a long time - in fact at least two of their recent trustees have had tinted specs for processing problems - but there is some difficulty with peer reviewed research. We have done some - but it has been ignored - I think it is inconvenient.

In fact we have significant problems because we address visual problems in ASD. Over half of our patients have ASD, and these often show massive sensory processing problems - in fact many behaviours in ASD seem to be a direct consequence of inability to cope with unstable, unreliable, distorted and fragmented visual stimulus.

But I can't see the NAS getting involved - they have had ample opportunity in the past. When DSM V is coming soon - it is esssential that the NAS should find out just what can be done visually - an open debate is necessary - then a policy!

I agree change is necessary. 

let the NAS start a sensitivity campaign on our behalf

We have a specialist optical practice that routinely assesses visual processing problems associated with light sensitivity.

There is a lot that can be done, for example - optometrists have a duty of care to recognise when a filter or tint needs to be prescribed (in children at any rate as they are the only people legally entitled to precribe for clinical need in children).

Opticians usually choose the filter. To be able to do this they have to know the tolerances of colour, saturation (how much white is present) and brightness, combine it with the task, reflectance, absorbsion and ambient lighting and be aware of all the cross sensory problems that can be present e.g. balance and hearing difficulties, coordination, headaches etc. It is very complex and choosing by trial and error is unlikley to be be very good - especially for those with profound problems. There are techniques available but these are few and far between in practices - especially as the best instrumentation is usually necessary (the gamut is critical)

However the training is at present extremely limited as it has not been considered a priority - and may only be addressed by some optical professionals as a reading speed difficulty - which is of little value in ASD. The greatest effects are in facial recognition / expression recognoition, sensory synchronisation /integration and cognition. 

The system does need to change - maybe it will someday. But changing a profession is difficult.

A bit of advice - expert knowledge is critical - you may have to travel

autismtwo said:

The weird thing here again, that light sensory stimulas is at play via the Autism spectrum condition, so why is there no a clear light sensitive checkup diagnosis procedure via the NHS or NAS sign post ? 

The weird thing here again, that light sensory stimulas is at play via the Autism spectrum condition, so why is there no a clear light sensitive checkup diagnosis procedure via the NHS or NAS sign post ?