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Irlen Glasses

autismtwo

When I go into shops, especially supermarkets I get dizzy or if there is bright lights, even the sun in my eyes,, I get dizzy, it is like I am half drunk. My balance goes off. I was thinking maybe I am light sensitive.. researching,, I came across Irlen Glasses which are filter lens of some type.

Anyone know anything about this, is it a path worth exploring. I always assumed the dizzy spells were anxiety related, but could it be light sensitivity ?

  • Hi HappyDays I see your husband is an optician. Smile How do Variegated glasses compare with Irlen glasses for price and reliability of blocking out flickering from neon lighting? Virtually everywhere I go, no doubt we all go, businesses have neon lighting switched on, often when they don't need it on, and while sunglasses can help to a point, they don't always stop glare and bad headaches, as it depends on the degree of lighting, and the longer anyone who is affected by strong lighting is subjected to it, the higher the chances of bad headaches developing.

  • Does anyone else find the glare of car headlights painful? I worry about driving at night as oncoming lights can be quite blinding, even when dipped, if they are very bright. Any advice please?

  • thank for the info, it has been very informative, thank you again Smile

  • I am quite familiar with how Irlen glasses can help individuals with light sensitivity and other perceptual processing difficulties. Here's a link to an article published on one of the top Brain Blogs in the United States last week about how colored glasses can help some individuals on the autism spectrum - especially if they experience light sensitivity like you describe. Hope this helps.  http://brainblogger.com/2013/03/02/the-autistic-child-more-than-meets-the-eye/

    As a side note, Optometrists usually aren't familiar with how Irlen is able to help, or if they are familiar, are usually working off very old information.

     

  • I Have green lenses and they really make the difference to me. I got them to improve my reading, and they do, but also help relax my eyes when I have a headach, i almost always where my sunglasses when driving to filter bright light. I'm lucky enough to have had my glass provided my the DSA.

  • Hello, I am light sensitive (Also noise and movement), I get a noise/pressure sensation in my head, struggle with concentration and things like co-ordination and balance and get migraines because of strong light.

    I am only just getting diagnosed now, and although I knew about irlen lenses it sounded like an expensive thing to look into due to my circumstances. I already wear glasses for short sighedness so when I went into my optician I asked to see the selection of lense tints. They usually have a wide range including the traditional sunglasses colours (black, brown, green), driving colours (yellow, blue) and fashion colours (pink)

    High street brand opticians usually have a range of lense colours to test on-premises and also a range of strengths, so you can see what works best for you.

  • Hi, I asked my husband about these lenses, hes an optician. Irlen lenses have a good track record on people who use them but there is little in the way of scientific evidence to back them up, they are used for people with dyslexia and such conditions .They are person specific prescribed coloured lenses which are supposed to help the person read faster. They are quite expensive.

    Addressing the issue that you go dizzy when you go into a supermarket it may be you have an uncorrected prescription and should be checked at the opticians. It may also be a response to the flicker of the fluorescent lights, I've heard of it a few times. If that is the case there is not much you can do to change the frequency of the flicker (usually around 50 times per second). In which case reducing the amount light entering the eye may help. If you are generally sensitive to sunlight any way some type of sunglass may be necessary but it wont need to be as specific a tint as an Irlen Lens.

    Ill tell you the four options to give you every option, If you have a prescription from the optician it should be incorcorated into the glasses it does make the glasses more expensive but it will give you the best quality of vision.

    1) Sunglasses- Simply reduce the amount of light, they should have UV protection and they can be made to a particular level of darkness so you dont have to have them pitch black when you go indoor however if they are lighter they wont help the light sensitivity.

    2) Polarised lenses- These are always dark but they cut out all glare making them more comfortable in bright lights near reflective surfaces (water/glass/snow) I swear by these lenses.

    3) Transitions lenses- Go dark when you go outside so would solve the problem with the sun but go light when youre inside so probably wont help in the supermarket.

    4) Xtractive lenses- These are new and very expensive. The react to visible light instead of UV so react inside as well as outside and go clear at night.

    Hope that helps in some way

  • Hi - you could do a search on the Research Autism site as they check out many things which are said to help people with autism + they give their opinion on whether something is helpful or not, etc.  I don't know if there's anything on the nas site but it might be worth doing a search here as well.

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