• Replies 13 replies
  • Subscribers 7 subscribers
  • Views 214 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

Light sensitivity

GEEnie

For those of you who don't know, I'm a delivery driver, and I work 8am to 5pm and every other half Saturday. Whilst I do like my job, there is one thing that aggravates me to no end, and that is sunshine.

I've no qualms with the importance of sunshine and I can handle it to a degree better than most who have autism, but it really does make me very grumpy and irritated, especially when it's particularly bright and the roads are wet enough for deflect the glare back at my eyes. 

I do wear sunglasses, but I do have to take them off on occasion to clean them or to stop them steaming up on certain cold days like we're currently experiencing, and this morning I had to pull over in a shady lay-by to relax my eyes and just stop for a moment to allow time to recuperate before returning to base.

Needless to say, my driver coordinator was less than impressed with my excursion and I felt a reprimand coming along. I would tell him and my boss that this is something I've always had to cope with but I get the feeling that their skeptical mentality might put me on the back foot. 

Am I really having symptoms of autistic licht sensitivity, or am I making a mountain out of a molehill? I know it's common for those with ASD, but could somebody enlighten me at all?

Thanks

  • in reply to Debbie

    I just did a quick search and it looks like such things do exist although it's buying online in this case:

    https://www.rapideyewear.co.uk/index.php?id_product=539&rewrite=photochromic-driving-glasses&controller=product

  • in reply to Debbie

    Photochromatic 'over the counter' sunglasses have existed for decades - I wonder if you can just buy sunglasses now that work inside a car?

  • in reply to TheCatWoman
    TheCatWoman said:
    they won't do the transitions lenses without a prescription.

    Ah. I see.

  • in reply to Debbie

    Thanks Debbie, I asked in specsavers and they were the ones who got cross, I think it was because I don't need to wear glasses all the time, only for reading, that they got bent out of shape about it, they won't do the transitions lenses without a prescription.

  • in reply to TheCatWoman
    TheCatWoman said:
    I asked if I could have a pair of sunglasses with reaction lenses for when I'm driving and keep going in and out of strong sunlight, they told me 'no I couldn't'

    They now exist.

    This is their name at Vision Express:

    Transitions®
     XTRActiveTm New Generation

    See link below:

    https://www.visionexpress.com/brands/transitions

    I remember them being brought into opticians as my old optician (who was very good and unfortunately retired) knew about them and recommended them to me.

    This was a few years ago.

  • No it's defineatley not just you, I struggle too, normal sunglasses aren't enough and as I get so hot, I sweat and they slide off and/or fog up. I tried somew wrap around ones thinking that they would protect my side sight, but my eyelashes brushed the insides and that was uncomfortable as I kept blinking.

    Opticians are ignorant of light sensitivity and I've been told to 'just get used to it', I asked if I could have a pair of sunglasses with reaction lenses for when I'm driving and keep going in and out of strong sunlight, they told me 'no I couldn't' and seemed quite offended that I would ask such a thing, especially when I reminded them that I would be paying for them.

  • I really struggle with light sensitivity. I experience similar problems that others have shared with respect to office lighting. I also find that I can’t run (running’s my thing at the moment) without wearing sunglasses unless it’s extremely overcast and raining as I just get a sensitivity-induced headache that lasts days. My NT running fellows din’t experience this and think I’m weird for wearing sunglasses when it’s not sunny, but it works for me. Looking back the same thing used to happen at PE in school and teachers just thought I was trying to get out of classes, but I really wasn’t. I also have a bad reaction when sunlight is shining into the side of my vision - worst experience of this was when it caused me to faint during a crowded outdoor theatre event - was really scary but there was no other explanation - I had eaten well beforehand and wasn’t tired or ill, but just remember this beam of sunlight in my periphery vision.

  • Definitely not a mountain out of a molehill. I'm currently approaching the end of a working day in which - despite the much kinder light levels at this time of year- artificial office lights, my PC screen (even with Nighlight mode, as ever, switched on) and a reduced opportunity (due to more office chat und the unspoken social contract of - draining - eye contact) to wear my sunglasses have combined to leave my retinas screaming for recovery time and a dark room. 

    Once I've hit that kind of level where an unbroken/continuous sensory overwhelm has made the foregrounding of actual concentration near-impossible, I know its been a wasted an unproductive day. Yet how do I explain that? - even though I have some colleagues aware of and understanding about my being autistic, there's only so much I can convey to them that's relateable to the degree I'd require. 

    Ah well, tomorrow is another day, and one when I'm working from home. I get to control my environment more fully, and that will help a lot! 

    I can well imagine that with the sun so low in the sky in winter, what you did today (taking some time out) was necessary for both your wellbeing and everyone's safety. So please don't let worries about judgement (real or imagined) from a colleague dissuade you from doing what you know is needed. 

  • GEEnie said:
    Am I really having symptoms of autistic licht sensitivity, or am I making a mountain out of a molehill?

    I should think you are 'really having symptoms of light sensitivity'.

    In one of my jobs, long before my diagnosis, I asked for the fluorescent light above me to be removed (which was a bit of a palava as it involved a man and a ladder) and then I brought a desk lamp in from home.

    Whenever I had an office of my own, the overhead light was always off and a desk lamp used instead.

    Good lighting is important to me because of poor eyesight, but I still find it overwhelming and blinding.

    I hope that the situation at work works out well - especially if they know of your autism.

  • in reply to Mr T

    Oh mate I get so grumpy when it is light and bright. Many say it cheers them up, which isn't a complete lie, but for me too much of the stuff is both painful and overwhelming to me

  • I do not like bright lights and bright sunshine. it makes me feel uncomfortable