I'm not able to walk outside during the day with my head up?

Post Reply New Topic

I'm wondering if this is normal or a sensory issue.

I always have to squint and stare at the ground, with all the effort in the world I cannot walk with my head straight up because of this.

Wear sunglasses? I'm the same way, I just look at the ground or wear sunglasses, not a huge issue unless I run into someone because of it lol! Or have trouble seeing where I'm going...

I am very light sensitive and certain lighting is really disorientating. I find the lighting at midday the worst. There is something in the study of photography about this type of light. It is not a soft light at all. I have used welding glasses as I had really wicked migraines for a while. I actually enjoy walking late at night. I take my dog around the neighborhood. It is more comfortable in so many ways.

Hey! Same here though the time I remember it being a much bigger issue was when I was taking medication that compounded light sensitivity. It's much more severe for me in the winter because of the sun's low elevation trajectory across the sky (unless of course it's summer, and I'm looking straight up) but perhaps a hat and sunglasses combo could help. Haven't tried them myself because I feel too goofy in either a hat or sunglasses and the combo, with my long hair, would probably exacerbate any creepy appearance I already exude, ha.

I hate how bright it is out till about 2 pm. I sleep till then to avoid it.

Sun glasses?

My husband squints all the time due to his larger-than-normal pupils. He complains if there aren't blinds on the windows to block the sun from coming in.

I have had the same problem since I can remember. I find normal daylight uncomfortable. I even have a hard time tolerating some types of indoor lighting. I wear sunglasses all the time, including in my college classes. It's really weird that people have commented (negatively) on wearing sunglasses indoors, including professors, but I'm not going to be uncomfortable just because people freak out when they can't make eye contact with me. I had no idea that sunglasses indoors were taboo. NTs are very strange sometimes but who am I to judge, I don't have a compulsive need to make eye contact.

Me too. I even wear sunglasses to drive in the rain.

Yeah, sunglasses and a hat/cap with a brim if the brightness of the sky (and lights in grocery stores -- ack) is also painful.

Does anyone else do this? Feel better on a nice sunny day versus a heavy dark day, but keep the blinds closed because it is to bright? My husband gets really choked with me. He can't understand how I like clear days if I keep the house dark. I think it is more about the atmosphere. I get choked because I do feel better and I am telling the truth.

Are you sure it is because of the lights? I've a hard time standing straight when i walk, I always look down... but it's due to hypotonia, very common among aspies. Do you have the "forward head syndrome"?

I'm light sensitive (though not to the extreme that I like the blinds closed indoors), and I have both the Transitions lenses on my eyeglasses and add-on sunglasses. I have these nifty eyeglass frames with magnets to hold the additional sunglasses that came with them - always mention to your eye doctor if you're light sensitive or prone to migraines.

Even so, I'm quite often best off with an additional visor or hat with a brim to shade my eyes from the sun when it's bright out. (There's a gap between my forehead and the dark glasses, and that can be a problem, so the visor or hat brim shades that.)

Don't walk around with your head down, get yourself some portable shade(s). Then you can enjoy your time outside.

Last edited by SpiritBlooms on 06 Nov 2012, 12:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I do something similar, but mine's not a sensory issue to light. I've made up a sensory issue of my own, called ''hypersensitive to eye contact with strangers''. I have developed a phobia of meeting another person's eye if I don't know them, so I walk along looking ahead, then when somebody comes along, I stare at the ground. I don't put my head right down, I just draw my eyes towards the ground so I can avoid meeting anyone's eye. This can be mighty awkward when I am passing somebody who I know, because it always looks like I'm being unfriendly.

I almost always look down, even when I'm walking around inside. It just feels more comfortable.

I do squint a lot when I'm outside, though; I often have one eye closed when outside on a sunny day, and I remember thinking as a kid that I squinted more than other people.

It sounds like hypotonia. I slouch a lot and this has been mistaken for lack of confidence all my life (impairing my social life), but the truth is that the lack of muscle tone was responsible of this; very common in aspies. I have back problems and standing straight is a chore. I squint a lot too and hate harsh lights.