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Tinted / blue light Glasses?

NAS83795

A little advice if possible. Currently going through a formal diagnosis pathway, very late in life, after realising many of my problems I have had for decades have been because of sensory overloads, which I am starting to manage much better even before the diagnostic process is over (but with strong indicators at this point). I should add, I'm not 100% sure I want to name it at this point

Anyway. Life is, at the moment, frequently taking me into large, white spaces, under heavy, bright artificial light. And I am finding myself getting panicky and verbally sharp with people through stress, usually within minutes of being in there. I am looking into getting some tinted or blue light glasses to "take the edge off"

Does anyone have experience of them? Any tips? I am reading the evidence isn't totally there, but after learning just how much better I cope with ear plugs in, and realizing why I have spent 30 years refusing to leave home without headphones on, I am exploring other options

  • in reply to osmosis

    My computer glasses have an Irlen tint.  Work pay for them.  They make a fantastic difference.

  • Hmmm...I'm sure a tint of some sort could help, but it might be trial and error to get this right.

    First you need to know whether it's just bright light that is upsetting or whether you could have Irlen's syndrome, which is a problem processing the light spectrum.  It can cause text to dance when you read and that sort of thing.  This can be corrected with the right colour tint for you.  An optician who specialises in dyslexia and Irlen's can test and prescribe the tints.

    If it's just the brightness of the light, dark glasses of any shade might help.  Buy a few cheap pairs and experiment.  

  • After I got my diagnosis I started to read up on sensory sensitivities and read something that said a lot of autistic people have irlens. I think I do, and never realised it until I read that. 

    The treatment for irlens is tinted glasses, or putting coloured plastic filters over what you're trying to read. The colour of the tint required is apparently very specific to the person, and there's a specific test (called an intuitive colorimeter) that they use to figure that out.

    I went to see an optometrist about it, and we tried several colours of filter before deciding a green one works best for me. They tell you to try the filter for a month or two before getting some special glasses made with it. I think the filter does help, but I rarely read off paper (I'm on the computer most of the time). I'll be going to get the full test done, and glasses made, but haven't gotten around to it yet.