The Physical Aspects of Asperger's Syndrome
13. Visual Sensitivities: Bright Light, Reading Troubles, Synesthesia, and Eye Contact
Bright Light
Individuals with autism, Asperger's Syndrome, ADHD, and related disorders commonly have over-sensitive senses. As a result, things don't normally feel, look, or sound just right. To them, sounds can be too loud or irritating and some clothing materials can be annoying. Aspies are also more sensitive in what they see when compared to neuro-typical people.
For many, just wearing sunglasses when outside is enough to solve this problem. I'm very sensitive to bright sunlight. Of course, I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, which is probably the brightest city in the whole country, so that didn’t help. :-) I’m glad to live in Austin now, where the humidity prevents the sunlight from ever getting that bright. As a child, without sunglasses, I constantly squinted so much that one eye closed entirely and the other eye was barely cracked open. It was beyond uncomfortable. It was painful. There were summers in which my eyes and my head hurt daily with severe pain. It never occurred to me then, being young, that committed sunglasses use could alleviate my problem.
Now as an adult, I make sure that I always wear sunglasses outside (and sometimes even inside), even in winter. I've also painted many walls in my home a color other than white. They're not incredibly dark or anything, just tan for one room, green for another, and blue for another. This has helped a lot with my physical stress levels when I'm at home.
Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome
I also have Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome, more commonly known as Irlen Syndrome. This is something you can go to a doctor for, there are even some located in Austin. For me, however, it's easy to fix and didn't require the help of a doctor.
Irlen Syndrome is a way of saying that it's hard for the person to read text which has a white or light-colored background. For these people, the letters and words of regular-sized print, such as is found in paperbacks, don't stay still, or disappear and reappear. They appear to be jumpy on the page, or to go in and out of focus. Having 20/20 vision, or vision that is corrected to 20/20 won't cure this particular problem.
Irlen Syndrome occurs most often in people on the Autistic Spectrum and with ADHD. Not all autistics have Irlen Syndrome, just some of them. Nor does this syndrome always come paired with dyslexia, another common reading difficulty; although sometimes they occur together in the same person. I for example, do have Irlen Syndrome, but I have no amount of dyslexia. From Elementary through High School, I was always placed in a reading group two years ahead of my chronological age. I say this not to brag, but to let you know that having Irlen Syndrome does not necessarily hamper reading ability in any other way. Dyslexia has to do with how the brain processes what it sees in turning that information into meaning. However, Irlen Syndrome has to do with the eyes and the visual nerves receive light.
You can see sample distortions of how reading on white paper looks to me here: http://irlen.com/distortioneffects.php. Personally, from the list there, I see: blurry, halo, shaky, and washout. I see these all the time when there is a white background. Yellow or pink don’t help me either. But I’ve found that blue and turquoise fix the problem entirely, it’s amazing. Different colors help different people.
This is the reason that I chose blue and green background colors when I designed the AspiesofAustin.com site and the Aspies of Austin Forum at http://www.blueginger.org/yabb/YaBB.pl. I knew it would help me and some other users of this forum to read more comfortably.
I used to think I was crazy regarding reading, before I knew I was autistic. I would sometimes read with sunglasses. But I was embarrassed, not knowing this was a real condition, so I would only read with sunglasses in private. I also found that I had to use my finger to help me keep my place when I read large amounts of text.
Personally, I haven't bought overlays from the Irlen.com site, because the plastic is large and rather flimsy. But, if you read at a table and could use something in 8 1/2 x 11 size, then those will work just fine for you. I bought, and recommend, Read With Ease from the Block center: http://www.fortune3.com/block1/product.cgi?group=14&product=53. These are great and I use them all the time.
I also read a lot on the computer, probably a lot more than a child would. For the computer, I tint the screen blue, or a use a large piece of blue cellophane. For brief reading, I just “select” the text (as if I am about to copy it), which turns the text white and the background dark blue. This makes reading on the computer possible for me.
I also downloaded, and recommend, the free program "Screen Tinter Lite". It is available here: http://www.bltt.org/software/screentinterlite/index.htm. The page describes how it works. The download link is about two-thirds of the way down the page. It doesn't work on programs, such as the internets, but it changes the background color in Word and many other places. It's very helpful, and it really is free.
The good news is that once techniques and supplies are acquired to help address Irlen Syndrome, you get used to it and it’s no longer a big problem. It’s something you can very much get used to.
My advice about caring for a child with Irlen Syndrome is to get overlays in whatever color or colors the child prefers, and in whatever sizes you need, and also to get them a good quality pair of sunglasses. Most places where you would buy colored overlays offer them in a variety of colors, and you can test your child and see which color(s) work best.
If you are interested in going to the next step, there are also Irlen Eye Doctors that you can visit. There are even some in Austin, which is great because they're not in every big city yet. They will do extensive testing to find exactly which color works best for you or your child. Then, you will know which overlay to use. Or, if you really want to go further, you can get special glasses made with just the right color for you. You can learn more about that at Irlen.com.
Synesthesia
Synesthesia is actually one of the cooler side effects of Asperger's Syndrome, in my experience. Synesthesia is a condition in which some of the senses get mixed up. For example, one might see colors in numbers, or at least, always think of the same color when a certain number is mentioned or read. Days of the week or months of the year might also elicit thoughts of a specific color each time they are thought of. For me, each of the ten digits makes me think of a certain color every time I see or hear those numbers. I enjoy it, it helps with my numerical memory. Synesthesia can apply to numbers, letters, sounds, musical notes, musical chords, or more. Other senses could be involved, such as tasting a word, or seeing sound.
Online testing for this condition is available here: http://www.synesthete.org/
Eye Contact
It is well known that many autistic, ADHD and Asperger's individuals have a hard
time making and maintaining eye contact. I have heard some well-meaning
parents tell me that they are addressing the problem by forcing the child to
stare at another's eyes. Having had this condition all my life, I cringe
when I hear this. Forcing eye contact does not cause the problem to go
away. There is an actual reason that eye contact is uncomfortable, and if
it is forced for longer than is comfortable, it can become painful and even
scary.
The good news is that scientists are finding that the GFCF
diet and some
oils can help heal the individual's ability to have eye contact. In
addition to a gluten-free and casein-free diet, essential Omega-3 oils, such as Udo's Oil (in a refrigerator in the herbal section of the health food store;
also available in a plant-based version) help in this capacity a great deal.
Also highly recommended is Cod Liver Oil. I get mine from Kirkman Labs:
http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/ in a
pill form. It looks like a vitamin E pill; there is no bad taste or
smell. These two oils in association with the GFCF diet do amazing things.
When I was about one month into the diet and taking those oils, my husband told
me that my eye contact had increased dramatically. I hadn't consciously
noticed, except to notice that the desire to look away from eyes was indeed
gone, or at least largely lessened. Apparently I was watching eyes more
during conversations, for the first time in my life, and I was so comfortable
about it that I hadn't noticed. This was a brand new thing. I've
never been comfortable looking at eyes. I always force myself to during
conversations, but it's highly uncomfortable, and I must look away often.
If my eye contact duration had increased without my discomfort increasing, then
truly a miraculous physical change had occurred in me!
I did have one clue that my eye contact was improving -- meaning, before I stopped and took note of it once my husband informed me about it. Around that same time, I had developed a passion for eye color. For the week prior to that, and the two weeks afterwards, I found myself staring at people's eye colors, in person, in movies, on pictures. Previously, my dislike for people's eyes in the past is so severe that I have no pictures of people anywhere in my house. I just couldn't stand them. But for those weeks, I was fascinated with eyes. I looked at their colors. I was fascinated by how many different colors of eyes there are. I thought there was just blue, green, and brown. But there must be hundreds of actual eye colors! I saw and marveled at the variations in color from the outer ring of the iris, I saw how the color changes as you got closer to the pupil in some people. Some eyes seem like they have a multi-pointed star in them emanating from the pupil, some where a lighter color of the main eye color, and some had entirely new colors in their centers. I looked at the color variances of people in my family, and loved seeing the relationship evident in the genes that created my sons' eyes. I saw my own eyes, and was amazed at how pretty they are.
I will refrain from going on, because I'm guessing you've seen eyes before. But here's the thing -- I don't think I really have. Not more than a cursory look. I was always watching mouths during conversations, or during movies. We saw a movie last month in which I pretty much stopped caring about the plot and just stared at the beautiful eyes, for two hours! It's an amazing new world, that I, at age 34, am just now being given the privilege of seeing for the first time.
I recommend that if you, or your child, have any difficulty with eye contact, or find that you or your child happen to watch mouths or background objects during a conversation, try omega-3 oils and/or cod liver oil. If that's not enough, add the GFCF diet. It may be a lot of work, but, and this is the really good news, it is possible to overcome the physical limitations which prevent healthy levels of eye contact!
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