Sensitivity to sunlight

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I have aversion to sunlight, or any light for that matter. I was talking to my sister who is having issues with reading; she gets very sore eyes. I told her to maybe dim the lights. I prefer reading with little light.
If I don't wear my glasses outside my eyes would sting a lot. Actually I woke up this morning and they were stinging.
A sensitivity to light is very common in the autistic spectrum.

I went through a period, from about '99-'00 to a few years ago where I had some rather extreme sensitivities to light. I can remember having to go into a pitch black room, like a closet, to alleviate severe headaches. I could always tell when it was light-related because it felt like a band that went from ear to ear over my forehead at the hairline that got progressively tighter. I would go into complete darkness sometimes as long as 15 minutes to get rid of the headache. I also used to wear sunglasses indoors from time to time because the flourescent lights bothered me.

I used to think that I only had light sensitivity issues as an adult because I didn't recall ever having problems with it as a child. But then I realized that I've worn glasses since I was 8 or 9 years old; they likely had some ability to lessen the amount of direct light on my eyes. It wasn't until I started wearing contact lenses that I began having issues. I had one eye doctor who said I was photophobic.

I don't wear contacts anymore since I had Lasik surgery a few years ago. I don't have such strong reactions anymore, though I still prefer to be in dark or dimly lit places. I still wear sunglasses when outside during the day, even during overcast conditions. In the nearly 7 years I've lived in my apartment I've never opened the blinds and only turn on the lights when I need to.

ACHOO syndrome, and Achooism, named after the sound made when sneezing, along with its related backronym Autosomal dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome.



Mine used to be very bad, I'd sneeze for hours after getting up in the morning. We thought it was an allergy, never connected it to light, but then when I moved to another continent it disappeared.

Sunlight makes my eyes squinty.

I get headaches and visual problems in the light. I see colours shift and blur in the light, my right eye starts to get extreme pain, and I usually end up having to close the one eye, which messes with my depth perception. My mother had to wear glasses for photo sensitivity, and I suspect I may have the same condition.

Same here. I'm sensitive to bright light and get headaches or squint. It may or may not be related to migraines. IDK

Yeah, I remember starting this thread: "Do You Sneeze At The Sun?"
and I got some great responses of utter disbelief, because some scientist somewhere had to make a mockery of this reaction by dubbing it "ACHOO syndrome"...
It is seriously real to me. I can't help it. Sudden bright light makes me sneeze every time.

I've had this since January. I used to love the sun, but now it hurts my skin when I'm out in it.

Flat affect? Strange repetitive motions? Sensitivity to sun? Uh oh, aspies are the undead!
*runs from stake/shovel*

I feel an 'autism is caused by' coming on...

It is difficult to determine whether my sentitivity to sunlight is a direct result of AS, or whether it is because I have light blue eyes or a combination of both.
But even in moderate sunlight I do have to squint in order to reduce the amount of light reaching my eyes, and I often have that permanent clint eastwood look.
In bright sunlight and especially in areas that have very light reflective properties, the intensity can be too much for me and often as a result I may require the need to close my eyes on occasions.

If the discussion is regarding one bright source, such as a candle. This is more of an irritant and I may deliberatly look at the source with the risk of eye damage.

Yeah bright sunlight for me is very much a trigger for some really bad headaches for me at times.

I have that problem, there have been a lot of times that I've had to look away or down because of sunlight.

Me too.


Yup, I have that, too, and so does my son. And I always thought that everyone did this, too.

When you can do something or react to something in a particular way, you assume everybody else is the same way until you're proven wrong, then you find it hard to believe. When my parents told me that most people can't name musical notes out of context (i.e. absolute pitch), I thought they were joking.

Believe me, I feel the same way for, as a kid I always had to wear sunglasses when outside usually during the summertime cause, it would feel almost as, if I would wind up being blind by the sun..These days, I still have to squint most of the time and try to keep my view where I don't wind up being blinded as such, especially since I wear spectacles which, can make it much worse..So, your not the only person whom has what, I feel is hypersensitivity to sunlight..

It probably isn't sensitivity to sunlight exclusively, but light in general.

I seem to be sensitive to just about all the senses. Smell, light, hearing, taste, touch. It sucks. In return my senses do seem more keen than others in the lower range. In many ways, it is like night vision goggles (using the light amplification method): they see better than the regular eye in the dark, but normal lights blind them. For me it's like I'm more perceptive in that lower range. Not that I outright hear or see better. Like it's about processing the information gathered too much rather than the senses actually having greater range.

I don't have it, but The Missus does. She's very sensitive to sunlight.