Fascination With Lights

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Question for the light lovers....my daughter is sensitive to bright lights, must have curtains drawn, sunglasses on and will meltdown if a camera flashes too bright. However, she LOVES fireworks and little toys with spinning lights. These seem contradictory to me.

Does anyone else experience both a sensitivity to light as well as a draw or attraction to them? Can it be explained?

For me, I am sensitive to bright lights but am drawn to lights such as blue LEDs, blinking lights and flashing cameras at a dark concert. The difference for me is when they are obnoxious like right in my face and TOO bright I get really mad and in physical pain. When they are not too bright or at a distance I am drawn to them. I was at a dark concert and in the sea of darkness I saw the twinkling of the camera flashes and it was beautiful.

I suppose I do too.....some kinds of light I can barely stand, other kinds I'm mesmerised. It does seem paradoxical. The eye candy is usually less in my face, less intense, and covers less of the visual field. I think whether or not it's within my power to get away from it is important too.

Wonderful, wonderful video Tom. It was mesmerizing and beautiful! My only complaint is that it ended too soon. But that's what the replay button is for!

The first generation Playstation console did the same thing. I loved that so much!

That was cool.

I searched through the forum for "staring at lights" because I also do this.

It's like I have bug eyes. My eyes are drawn to lights, and light trails are even better.

I thought Aspies were sensitive to lights?

I have an idea about this. I too am very sensitive to light, I need to wear dark glasses and a hat in my classrooms or the overhead lights cause me a lot of discomfort. I too have always loved fireworks and objects with lights, like the small led lights for christmas trees and the old 'lamps' that used fiberoptic strands to create what looked like tiny colored points of light floating in the dark. The difference between the 2 is the intensity of the light and also contrast. If you think about it fireworks are a fairly low intensity light against a dark background. The video that the OP made is also relatively low intensity light against dark backgrounds. I think its the combination of low intensity and contract that ASD people are attracted to. I can stare at a christmas tree with the little LED lights for hours. And those 'soft pastel' plug in night lights that shift color..... those are like crack to me.

LIGHT


http://www.youtube.com/user/kgaccount#p ... EHplp-dLI4


TheSunAlsoRises

I love lights and was facinated with lights as a kid. i used to love sitting in a car at night looking at all the street lights, i used to squint my eyes so that trails would come off the lights and i would move my head side to side so the glare would move. i would do the same staring at the xmas tree lights for hours, squinting and tilting my head from side to side, whoa cool

That was INCREDIBLE. Thank you so much for sharing!

As far as sensitivity to lights vs. fascination, I can explain how it works for me.

The kind of lights that fascinate me are LED or colored lights that are juxtaposed against a dark or black background. I went to a concert on Thursday, and rarely looked at the band, instead focusing on the colored lamps that were fading in and out over the stage. Also, I went to a play the other week, and found it quite boring, and ended up shaking and tapping my leg pretty aggressively (boredom stim). However, at one point the stage went black and the ceiling lit of with little twinkling LED lights. My leg immediately stopped shaking, and I continued to stare at the ceiling, even as the actors were performing.

Other examples of lights like this that I love: fireworks, lava lamps, stars/planetariums, etc.

The type of light I DON'T like is any kind of bright white light, like the sun, strobes, camera flashes, room and overhead lights, etc. if anyone saw the final Harry Potter film, that scene in King's Cross was a bit too much for me to handle.

I enjoy light in general. Some light gives me more trouble than others, though. Even than, it depends upon certain variables.


TheSunAlsoRises

Some are. I think all the sensory stuff is about context though, if you are in control it's not the same. Someone is behind you with a balloon and a pin, the noise will be horrific, however if you hold the pin and pop on your terms it is not the same.

I do feel dizzy in a hot, bright, loud, crowded place such as a supermarket. But it's not that anyone of those things that are unbearable, it's the combination of senses that are overloaded that cause the problem.

Autism isn't black and white,

Jason

Yes, this. For instance, if I have have to be outside in the cold, I'll most likely shiver so hard that my back will feel like its breaking. However, two nights ago, I stepped out on my porch in short sleeves and light pants, and it was extremely cold, but I didn't shiver at all. It's incredibly weird, but I think it's because I chose to go out and knew exactly how long I'd be out there. When I'm not in control, I think my anxiety contributes to how I respond to sensory stimulation. Like, I'm perfectly calm when I drive, but if someone else is driving, I panic the entire time...screaming or shielding my face every time I see brake lights or anything that could be remotely dangerous.

I do that too, I tend to sympathy break when I'm a passenger. I do prefer to be a passenger, than to drive with too many people in the car though.

Heights are an odd one for too, to any typical person I would be classed as afraid of heights, but I'm now more convinced its a sensory thing, looking up at a tall building is as uncomfortable as looking down, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense to many people. Lying on the floor of a sports hall or looking "down" through clear water creates the same dizzy feeling.

I can also face the feeling, I will look down or from tall buildings, but I have to have space and know I have something to hold on to.

Jason

Me, too. We have a world trade center in Baltimore, and they have an observatory on the top. They all went up and I, of course, refused. Anyway, they called when they got to the top and told me to look up to see if I could spot them...BIG mistake.

Yeah - I actually feel colder when it's 5 degrees than when it's 0 degrees.