Glasses that help with sensory overload.

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I was wondering if anyone has experience with using tinted glasses to lessen visual overload.I looked into getting Iren's glasses. The descriptions of the things that they help with fit me like a glove. It is not only sensory overload that I think they could help with, but with my reading problems as well. But they are pretty expensive.

At a conference I went to recently, Temple Grandin said to just go to Walmart and try out different pairs of sunglasses and get one that helps the most. But sunglasses are a bit dark and it's hard to tell which tint is the best while I am just trying them quickly in the store.

My sister just got glasses to correct her astigmatism that was causing head aches, despite the fact that she has 20-20 vision, and she noticed that they decreased sensory overload while driving. I have very slight astigmatism in my left eye but it's never caused me any problems.

Has anyone had experience with any of these things?

that would be interesting for me too as I get migraines from things like lights and computer screens
but Irlen glasses are for dyslexics, isn't it so? I don't think it helps for any kind of visual disconfort.

I've had to use monitor screens with a darkened screen in front of it efore as well as have worn sunglasses due to bright lights. They do help in controlling an overload. Mostly use mirrored aviators

If you go to a place that sells prescription glasses, they should have some samples of various tints you can try looking through (other than dark sunglasses) such as pale pink or blue.

If you buy a pair of glasses at a vision center, and they do their own tinting in-house, they might be willing to experiment with applying different tints to find the one that works best for you. I used to work as an optician and I did this for people pretty often. Tinting is just a matter of dipping lenses into a tinting solution, and tint can be lightened or almost completely removed if necessary (a very light amount of tint would probably still remain if you have it stripped off).

You might also want to look into Transitions lenses (lenses that automatically darken in brighter environments) and anti-reflective coatings that reduce glare.

If you are able to find out what tint you need, you could buy some glasses from zenni optical online. They are really cheap and have tinted lenses. Then, if you see that they do help you, you could buy a better, more expensive pair. (Unless the zenni ones are good, of course. I've been thinking about trying a pair from them myself, but I am not sure of the quality. I'm just thinking for a trial pair they might be good instead of spending hundreds only to find out they don't help).

They're also for visual overload and headaches due to visual sensitivities. What they are is using color to help you process vision better; the idea is that many people with visual processing issues have some sort of color that when looking through that color things make "more sense"; whether that is things not jumping around on the page, or just less fatigue and headaches from glare despite having great visual acuity. Or a whole bunch of other symptoms too that are related to vision. Mine have helped me with a whole bunch of things and I've never had any issues related to reading.


I use tinted lenses. I love them. They make things so much better for me. I have gone through an official Irlen screening, been diagnosed with Irlen syndrome (which is a particular sort of visual processing issue that really I knew I had going into it), gotten colored overlays from them that I've used at times, and instead of going through them to get my tinted lenses, due to the cost, ended up finding what my tint would be personally.

I still didn't go and try things on at walmart though. Whether you want to do that or be more involved is really a question of severity of these symptom's impact in your lives. For some people, that would be useful, and the cost of money and time of other methods wouldn't be worth it, for others, finding something better is worth it. IF you are doing that, still use some sort of testing method, what is something that looks wrong to you, where do you get visual distortions, what's something that is particularly bad, use that to look at to look through them each, and compare each's ability to correct your processing and make it easier on you.


What I did instead was to dye my own plastic, knowing the base color I'd want (I knew it was going to be a blue with a bit of grey in it, but nothing more than that), repetitively, testing, in this same manner. I purposefully looked at florescent lights, knowing how hard that is. I looked at optical illusion type squares that aren't meant to be optical illusions (for lack of a better description). I repetitively tested myself, and the things, and did this over and over, until I knew I was at the right color. And then I brought that piece of plastic to the optician, and told him "I want lenses in this color", and he helped me find frames that felt right on my face even with all my sensitivities.

For someone who's comfortable going through that method, knowing that I spent probably 12 hours dying plastic, gave myself migraines, did the testing myself, and had to make the call myself when it was done, but then had the upside of only having to pay $25 for lenses and the cost of the frames. That's an option.

For someone who has severe visual sensitivities, isn't comfortable with that process, I would go with the Irlen center's testing. I just couldn't justify the cost or afford the cost. It was too expensive. I do think lens colors that are optimized to you are worth money over ones that are picked from a pile at walmart though. It's just a question of how do you get there, and whether its worth enough in the case of how severe of visual sensitivities there are.

I used to have a nice expensive pair that shifted tint from clear to dark in response to lighting conditions. They weren't rated for driving or sunbathing, but they made staring at screens and going outside much more pleasant compared to my normal prescription glasses.

Thanks. I've been wondering what would happen if I ended up wanting to get prescription glasses and glasses with tints. I have a really good eye doctor (I can't remember of she's an opthalmologist or an optometrist) that did my eye surgery a few years ago (it was on the inside of my lower eyelid and not actually on my eyeball) who I think would be open to experimenting with me, or at least she could point me in the direction of someone else who could and would be willing to do so.




Thank you so much for all the info Tuttle!

My light sensitivity is a huge problem for me. My vision always distorts in fluorescent lighting which causes me all sorts of problems including sensory overload and shutdowns. I am no longer able to go to the Church that I've grown up at because they changed the lightbulbs to compact fluorescents. I get head aches and I completely shut down and am unable to function at all. And that's only the tip of the iceberg!

Anything that could help even just a little, would be worth almost anything to me. My mom is a bit hesitant about doing screening for Irlen's Syndrome mostly because of the cost and the sort of advertisement quality of the Irlen Institute's website and the plethora of problems that Iren Syndrome causes. I've taken the self tests on the website and it really sounds like it could be the reason for my reading difficulties and sensory problems. On one of the tests, for example, I answered "yes" to 11 questions when only 3 "yes"s were needed to indicate a likely hood of having Irlen's. But it sounds more and more like the cost would really be worth it in the end.

When I've tried stuff on a Walmart I always look down the isle and slightly up to test if the visual distortions are any less and if it is easier to focus my vision on things. In stores, mostly big ones, it often takes a lot of focus for me to avoid walking into things as well. Some of the sun glasses I try on don't make any difference, but others seem to make a little difference, but it's really hard to decide and figure out by completely unguided random trial and error, especially because I have to try and take into account that fact that some of the tints are darker than others.

I would definitely be worth the time and effort to dye my own plastic, but I have no idea what my base color even is. I would also probably be constantly second guessing myself when deciding on the final tint. I think that if I could figure out my base color, it might be worth a try though.

A parent here on WP got her health insurance to cover the child's Irlen testing. I'm not sure how she did it, but, if I get an AS diagnosis, I'm thinking about asking the doctor to refer me for Irlen testing because my insurance might that that more seriously than a request from me. Or a referral from an optometrist who knows about my light sensitivity and eye fatigue.

thanks for the info!
I am really considering this now as I could get rid of my visual related migraines. I tested my mother's sunglasses when using the computer and I felt much better.
how is the testing for Irlen Syndrome?
also how can I know if I have it? symptoms etc

Last edited by linatet on 10 Jun 2014, 8:31 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Yes, I do, and I discovered it by accident.

When I was a kid, I had a pair of cheap dollar store yellow tinted sunglasses. I, also, had a pinkish purplish pair, but I was particularly fond of the yellow. I was about 8 years old, and I wanted to wear them everywhere. I insisted to my parents that they helped me see better, and my parents dismissed me. I have 20/20 vision, and they couldn't fathom that a cheap colored piece of plastic actually did anything so I wasn't allowed to wear them most places.

Once I heard about Irlen Syndrome as an adult, I already knew what color helped so I just found some glasses that were roughly the same color as the sunglasses from when I was a kid. It turned out that Gunnar gaming glasses were about the same color so I bought a pair of those, and I really like them.

They have a website will all that sort of information on it. They also have several different self tests that you can take.

http://irlen.com/

I did the Irlen Institute self-test and wow! I think this is going to be life changing. Actually lots of things like rubbing my eyes, turning down brightness on eletronic components, reading in dim light, being bothered by traffic lights and having migrains are all related! I am going to buy those lenses this week, I don't think I can go without them anymore. Those things always bothered me so much but I didn't know I could do something to make it better.
this is awesome! One of the reasons I love wp, you learn so much about yourself and how to improve your life

ps. something funny is that I call a certain hour of the day "the hour when colors get strong" but no one never seemed to realize any colors getting stronger besides me.

what is the difference of effect of Irlen lenses and those that get dark in light places (transition)? which is the most indicated for each case?

I'm sure your eye doctor could help you...if she did surgery she's an ophthalmologist, not an optometrist, but she may refer you to an optician for help with lenses. Does her office have an optical store where they sell glasses?

I was going to say in my last post, but forgot, you might have better luck experimenting with tints at an optical store in a private doctor's office, rather than a large chain store. I've been out of that line of work for over ten years so things may have changed, but from what I remember, a chain store will probably want to charge you for tint changes. I know when I worked for a smaller local chain we did things like tint changes and fit adjustments for free, as a courtesy. But when I worked at Walmart they wanted us to charge for things like that. Plus some places like that don't do any work in-house, they sent it all off to outside labs, so if they don't have their own tinting unit in the store they would have to charge you for sending it off. I would just ask up front if they do their own tinting and if they are willing to make some adjustments for free if the first tint isn't right for you.

I have rose colored glasses & they help me in florescent lights.I also wear amber colored & polarized glasses,all with blinders on them.It was too expensive for Irlen lenses.I also wear a hat a lot with my shades on to block out light that bothers me!This was trial and error.... but it does help me with sensory overload.

Yes - I wear variable tint glasses (Transition lenses) that go from a light tint indoors to almost black outside in the sun.

Also, I've set the background colour on my computer to a deep pinkish colour and found that really helps with the whole high contrast "dancing letters" thing.

I still hate those high contrast reflective traffic signs - they seem to vibrate.