Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello
My husband is autistic and he had a meltdown about 4 months ago that resulted in his breaking his glasses and it took us about a month to replace his glasses with ones that actually felt comfortable to him it took a couple rounds. But by that time he was not used to glasses anymore (he has wore them most of his life with little issue) so now he has been having a hell of a time dealing with the sensory issues surrounding getting used to glasses again. He has not been able to wear them more than 45 minutes at a time, and he has a very strong prescription so they feel too heavy on his face and going from very blurry vision to being able to see in HD is sensory overload as well. Any tips for how to help with the heavy feeling or getting used to things again?
you may have to drop a bit more grizby than expected, but go shopping for the perfect pair(s). One thing you can do is discuss the issue with the optometrist and get different pairs of varying strength. I have 3 pairs. He can switch as the over load dictates or let the world be soft and friendly with none at all.
I have the same issue. and used to "loose" glasses regularly that adults bought for me, looking to get, seemingly the ones that most resemble pop bottle bottoms - Or the dreaded horn-rims. they gave up and I got my own years later in adult hood when I had agancy.
I Also now with hearing aids - the same overload issue came up. I can turn them up and down. they are fantastic.
It can get so expensive.
I have varifocal lenses, so they and the anti-UV coating I have because of a small cataract also push the price up for me, unfortunately.
I have a strong prescription. After getting a sore nose from the weight, I started having thinner lenses. They took a while to get used to and I don't have the thinnest possible. I also always have the smaller lenses.
buy flimsy glasses. That's what I do. they are wide & short lenses and a tiny metal frame that's got almost no substance to it.
Yes I also have frameless lenses with titanium but managed to find my prescription on an amazon seller so not too pricey. But only use for reading. I have dreadful sensory issues wearing glasses too. These ones take a lot of pain away but not 100%. Thinking of getting eye surgery if vision gets worse as its so hard to cope with.
I have thin frameless lenses, with the arms and bridge of very thin titanium (like a thick wire). I hardly know that I am wearing them, other than my vision is good. I have them bespoke made and pay through the nose for them, but as I am very myopic and wear them constantly it is worthwhile for me.
There are a few ways to make them lighter - either use super-thin lenses, which cost a bit more but I find it's worth it if your prescription is stable and won't change much in the next few years. Alternatively you can go plastic lenses, while these are lighter they are also much thicker. I haven't used these for years, so not sure how thick they would be as my prescription has increased since I last used them.
It may seem obvious, but the smaller the frame the lens has to fill, the lighter it will be. I noticed a big difference when my 15 year old glasses (rectangular) had to be changed to something nearer square shape, they are much heavier, and I'm still trying to get used to them. Try a smaller 'top to bottom' measurement, or go for something nearly circular - this ensures the thinnest bit of the lens, the middle, is what is mostly contained in the frame.
To get used to the weight, try adding more weight, in the form of clip on sunglasses or over the frame sunglasses, ironically getting used to more weight will make the lesser weight more bearable, and phase it in as others suggest. But maybe he just needs to build back up his stamina. It'll be what he wants to compromise on - seeing properly, or the lack of weight.
I used to have a similar problem but maybe not so severe a sensitivity that it would lead to breakdowns. It might sound obvious but try to get the weight out of the lenses and frame. Go with plastic lenses as they’re lighter and go for the highest refractive index lens material you can afford and this will reduce weight and lens thickness. Choose a rounder, smaller lens shape to reduce weight further and a thin plastic frame to match with minimal bulk. Hopefully your husband then won’t get the awful feeling that I used to get of pain after a while when wearing. Also, phase in the wear. Wear them for 30 minutes at a time. Then 45. Then 60 etc. hopefully you’ll reach a point where they can be tolerated.
It's just gonna take time and encouragement. When I last had my prescription changed, I checked how things looked at angles, even though it's not natural for me to look at things in that way. It made me hyper aware of magnification effects and gave me headaches to wear them. But I eventually got used to it and now it doesn't bother me.