Do you sneeze at the sun?

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I've always done this. I thought everyone did. It's only been a few years since I learned about it properly. Called "Photic Sneeze Reflex", it is a genetic trait where overstimulation of the optic nerve triggers a response out of another nerve in the brain and causes you to sneeze.
Basically: wires are crossed.
It apparently affects about 25% of people.
Read more about it here if you want::: *ACHOO*

I'm curious to know how many people with ASD's also share this trait.
For example, my dad sneezes at the sun. So do I.
My dad has many of the characteristics of AS. So do I.
Correlation? or just genetic coincidence?

Thanks for your responses

Last edited by Acacia on 23 Dec 2008, 9:47 am, edited 3 times in total.

Me too! Not just the sun, a light bulb will do.

Like you, I thought everyone did. I must have been in my 20's when I found out that it wasn't everyone. Surely at a 25% rate, it's unlikely to have an AS correlation, but you never know.

I do, and so does my mom! Go figure.

yes, I do! I thought I was the only one

that's the craziest thing i've ever heard! i half suspect you people of making it up.

^^LOL I admit I don't have such reaction to light bulbs (that is weird), but sun exposure makes me totally sneezy

Read the link! Look it up!

Bright lights do it to me as well. But It all depends on acclimation. If I've been in a dark room and then emerge quickly into brightness, I sneeze. If I do it gradually, it doesn't happen as much.

Yes, I've always sneezed at the sun. I actually thought everyone did it, to be honest. But I do doubt there's a connection between it and AS.

Yeah, I do, and thought everyone did. To me it's just as natural as shielding the eyes from the sun. Believe me, everybody who think this is a joke, it's serious. It would newer come to my mind to ask that question. But it's a good one.

happens to me with light of any kind, although its more usual that its the sun that triggers it.

Me too. There's few things more satisfying than a good sneeze.

He,he.. Right! An old buddy of mine said after a good sneeze;"Ah.. sneezing is one of the things that makes the life worth living"

^ There's nothing quite like a big sneeze. I don't trust people who repress their sneezes.

Sorry, I quoted wrong person in the post above. Totally agree!

We're both Irish, easily mixed up by the untrained eye

Never say never, I have heard that some aspies are sensetive to strong light. As the starter of this thread said, it's basicly oversimulation of the optic nerve that make this happen. Reminds me of a person I saw in the city once; he stood in the middle a public square, lots of people around him, he was standing in an odd posture looking at the sun, before he had a series of sneezes. Then he walked away like nothing had happened