Contact lenses

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Am looking into getting contact lenses for our 13-yr old son, instead of glasses. He has Aspergers and some sensory issues to go with it eg. doesn't like woollen jerseys, overheats, is pain-sensitive when he is more anxious/upset. Do contact lenses create sensory issues or do most ASD people find it easy to adjust to them?

I prefer my wearing my contact lenses to wearing glasses, and find that the glasses in fact give me sensory issues, while the contact lenses just go in and I forget about them. But that's just me -- there are people, even NT people, who cannot tolerate contact lenses, and the optometrist will usually give a little test-use to a new user to find that out.

Personally, wearing glasses creates problems for me not only because I get sensory issues about having "face furniture" touching my face and it drives me crazy after a while, but more importantly I can't seem to reconcile the different view of what I see through the corrective lenses and what my peripheral vision can see "around" the lenses, and I even lose my balance just walking. I have enormous problems with glasses.

By contrast, contact lenses are a dream, because they give a total perception of having normal vision and there's no conflict peripherally. You just see the whole world 20/20.

Sensory-wise, a correctly fitted contact lense should be so comfortable that you don't notice it in (a bit like, ahem, a correctly placed tampon!)

However there is one thing that may cause sensory issues to your son -- contacts can and do tend to feel a bit "dried out" after a long day of wearing, and they can feel uncomfortable then. But at that point it's usually beyond time to take them out, clean them, dispose, or soak overnight or whichever is called for.

I'm only at the start of getting my diagnosis, but I experience all the sensory issues of a spectrum person so I'm hoping that my answer can contribute some help.

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I'd say just give it a try.

I have extreme sensitivity to touch and temperature, yet I love contact lenses. They are more comfortable than having something touching my nose and ears all day. The contact lenses they make today don't feel bad at all in my estimation.

Sure, at the end of the day they can feel kind of puckered and dry, but that's when I remove them and put on my glasses. Not a big deal. I bet your son will think they're cool.

I was super sensitive to contact lenses, glasses, and effectively anything touching my face..

I tried contact lenses as a adult, trying to overcome the sensory but..

I started wearing contact lenses a couple of weeks ago, and they're alright, i quite like them. putting them in and taking them out is a bit weird, but i'm getting used to it

Thank you, all. That helps. Think we will give it a try and see what happens.

Yes, definitely worth giving it a try.

The eye care specialist you take your son to will insert a "trial pair" right there in the office, just to make an initial discovery of whether or not your son can physically tolerate them -- that's what mine did with me the very first time I ever had an appointment to get contact lenses. I was even told to go outside and walk about looking through them for half an hour!

Yours might not suggest that, but they will certainly put insert lenses to see how your son feels about them, before actually prescribing/selling you any.

Best wishes -- hopefully he will love them and get along well with them. I hate my glasses and couldn't live without my contacts.

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