Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi, I’m a teacher looking to help an ASC student who has hyper sensitivity to patterns, especially dots. They’re everywhere- ceiling tiles, carpets, science diagrams. She can even see the pores in skin. This is causing her huge stress. Would glasses with colour lenses help?
Tinted glasses generally are for Irlen's syndrome; a sensory problem processing the light Spectrum which can make text dance amongst other things. My optician prescribes them for me. They are likely to help your student only if something like that is behind the fear. It won't hurt to try some cheap coloured overlays to see, but you may also both be barking up the wrong tree with that.
We are generally hyper sensitive to patterns and spot them everywhere, it's what gives some of us our strengths. Your student is clearly finding this overwhelming. And I think Mariusz is right, your student may well have Synesthesia. I do. I have strong disgust reactions to those nasty round things that fasten clothes, for example. Even the word can kind of conjure them such that I can feel them - ugh. Puke! I've sort of had to train myself to avert my gaze when others are wearing them.
But my Synesthesia is fun too. People's names have colour. I wouldn't wish it away.
May be your student needs some occupational therapy to try and find a few ways to try and screen them out a bit. It's tough. Is your student also deriving any academic benefit from pattern spotting? Appreciating that might help psychologically with the toleration of it, even if they need it in small doses so as not to be overwhelmed.
My student is brilliant at Maths and computer science, but the dots are stopping her accessing her lessons. I’m going to suggest some therapy for trichophobia and try the coloured overlays. Synethesia is a good shout. If she could view as as a kind of visual super power it might help. Thank you everyone