• Replies 13 replies
  • Subscribers 9 subscribers
  • Views 1793 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

Parents

  • 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. 

Reply

  • 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. 

Children
No Data