Lately I’m very interested in sensory topics involving individuals on the spectrum. It seems to be quite frequent issue in people with autism and other neurological conditions, to suffer from different kind of discomfort caused by lightening. Some types of lightening might provide a calming effect but for others it could act as a stimuli.
I’ve noticed that my son is having some trouble with daylight. He is not able to walk in sunlight without baseball cap. He tends to squint his eyes and cover them with his hands if without something that covers his face. As I noticed going through the medical articles, many people on autism spectrum confirm that sunshine and similar bright lightening disturb them and in some cases cause distortions.
There are a few researches that reveals that people with ASD experience irregularity in sensory integration and the way they process visual input. It can provoke general discomfort, migraines, nausea. dizziness, fatigue, sleepiness, anxiety, irritability and eye strain.
In particular individuals with autism are more sensitive to the sub-visible flicker like the one in direct fluorescent lighting. That kind of light is causing major distraction, can cause headaches and may increase repetitive behaviour to the point of debilitating for some people. It’s jus amazing that they can see the lights flickering at 60 flashes per second.
Talking about daylight it is very important to know that individuals with problems in sleeping pattern should take care of how they are setting their environment in terms of brightness and colours. One of the many strategies to put to the test is to ensure there is darkness during times of rest. We need melatonin, a hormone which is produced when it’s dark, to keep our sleeping pattern regular. Usually melatonin drops during daylight and rises during darkness.
Use of desk or floor lamps can be extremely helpful. We basically reduced ceiling lightning as it is disturbing also for us parents. We use mostly LED bulbs that are dimmable where brightness and also colour could be changed. One I can hugely recommend is Philips Hue White and Color Ambiance A19 60W Equivalent LED Smart Bulb
Another item we tried and approved is Philips Hue 464610 White and Color Ambiance Plus Lightstrip
This product is absolutely amazing. We install it on top of a bookshelf 
As we know that paying attention to colour is also important we really love Philips Hue line. Think what effect would you like to obtain -stimulating or a calming one. Different colours have different effects on us. So if you need an undisturbed and relaxing environment, do not use red or yellow colour light because those could be counter productive. Use green or blue one to create less distraction.
Ready to change your lightening system? From the ceiling to the floor, set your colour, dime and relax!
Alina Magdalena Pilipionek
Founder&CEO of Autism CookBook, Personal Coach, Agile Coach, Personal Branding, Atypical Family Matters Narrator, SEN Deep Diver, Gadget Lover, Parenting Tips Researcher, GF/CF/SF/YF Nutrition Concept Developer, Educational Reviews Executor, Educational Products' Tester, Master of Scrum and Scaled Agile Framework, Motivational Speaker and Trainer, ABA/VB Live User, Spectrum Surfer, Wife&mom of 2, Certified Autism Advocate, Photography Enthusiast