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?
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.