Heat and light bother my son

[Guest CARLEY]

I'm wondering if others have found what I see. When my 11 year old son gets overly heated, he complains that his tics are worse. I can see it happen, often. And he always wants the air conditioner turned so low! Thank goodness it is fall again. He also likes to read with the lights turned low, something that I thought would be bad for his eyes but it seems to relax him. Any ideas from anyone? Thank you!!

[Chemar]

Hi Carley

 

Yes.....it is pretty widely accepted that high temps seem to trigger tics.

 

As to lights....my son only tics more if their is flashing light like a TV in a darkened room, movie theatre etc or with neon and fluorescent light.

[Sheila]

Carley, there seems to be a significanti subset of people with sensory hypersensitivities--touch, light, heat, smell. . . recent research put the number with heat sensitivity at around 30 percent.

 

Many report light sensitivity, as did Chemar. Some people have found help with Irlen lenses (there's an article on our web site on it under Learning Disabilities), though we only have a few reports so far on it helping tics. People can use colored lenses in glasses or colored pastic overlays on reading material once they find the color that feels best for their eyes. See www.Irlen.com

 

Natural or full spectrum lighting is best. It's interesting that flashing lights seem to bother some more than bright lights. Flashing lights can also trigger migraine and seizures. I think the main thing is to listen to children when they complain about the tags in clothes or a new shirt feeling scratchy, or the room being too hot--and respond, instead of brushing it aside or thinking they are just being fussy. Good luck, Sheila

[Chemar]

Sheila,

That is so true about the labels and scratchy clothes etc.......for my son he has me cut all labels out and wears his socks inside out because the seams irritate him etc etc......long list of sensory hypersensitivity!

 

I have an excellent book on Sensory Integration Dysfunction by Carol Stock Kranowitz called "The Out of Sync Child" ......helped me understand a lot about these sensitivities.

 

Cheri

[Guest Betty]

My six year old son who was recently diagnosed Ts is really light sensitive also. I can help him at home but often wonder how he deals with it in school.

Betty

[Guest m&m]

I would make a vist to school and see what the situation is like as far as lighting goes. Some rooms can be glaring. Check if it has windows and if they can cut the florescent (spelling??!!) lights down. I would look into those colored plastics they use too. It's worth checking out. Maybe give him some comfortable reading settings at home and ask him to compare and tell you how different it might be at school. I haven't taught for several years, but I know this was an issue at our school. Just a few "picky parents" spoke up. That's what it takes! The school didn't buy anything special but they let the parent make sure that some adjustments happened. m&m