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Elouise

Cerium prescision tinted lenses

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Has anyone on this forum any experiance with these?

 

They are not exactly cheap so before I organise ANYTHING I would value feed back form anyone who has used them.

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My Background

Researcher in colour, designer of the instruments and tests to assess colour prescribing, designer of Vdex Precise lenses, clinical director Orthoscopics. I have just finished writing syllabus for post grad diploma course for the optical professions in this area. You may have seen me on BBC2 " My family and Autism"

 

There are a number of types of tinted lenses and methods of assessment "on the market"

These include Cerium, Irlen and VDex Precise which are marketed through Orthoscopics.

Assessments for the Cerium lenses use the intuitive colorimeter which is a subtractive colour instrument and lenses are prescribed from this. These lenses are always broad spectrum.

The VDex Precise range were designed as the instruments we were using indicated that the range of lenses possible using broad spectrum filters were inadequate and that a new range was essential. In fact 80% of the best colour positions we find are outside the range addressed by the colorimeter. This is particularly true in ASD.

 

Trials in ASD using have not been published although some trials have taken place and others are planned.

Reading tests have been found to be inadequate although other testing techniques can produce reliable results.

We check the effects of visual stimulus on all the senses, they can be dramatic but are not present in every child with ASD. However, they are present in around 80%of children. It is essential that colour percptual testing in ASD addresses all sensory pathways and the can be used in non verbal (never mind non reading children).

 

Visual stimulus can effect facial recognition, balance, gait, posture, hypersensitivity, hearing, touch, memory, pain, swallowing and food texture, taste.

However I do not know how it would be possible to address many of these using techniques other than the methods developed by Orthoscopics

 

I am happy to demonstrate these effects at autistic groups of 50+ (for expenses only)

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I am looking at getting my two youngest assessed, but as the opticians who does it is a long way away, wouldn't mind some advice from others.

 

How much did testing cost, how much were the glasses?

 

Thanks in advance

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My son wears Irlen lenses. He didn't need any unusual coloured ones. His are a dark grey colour which is mainly for light sensitivity and depth perception.

These glasses have helped with reducing the amount of headaches he was getting.

He also lasts longer when he is wearing the glasses before he disengages. Infact, now he is 8, although he does retreat into his own world, you can bring him back by repeating his name.

Although he wears the lenses all the time, I found the most benefit with them when we went out of the house. I also had a pair of DIY ear defenders that he wore in conjunction with them. These two things together seemed to reduce the visual and auditory stimulous to such an extent that he was happy to leave the house, and once he had left he could last for the duration of the trip. Previously he would start complaining and insisting to return home after about 15 mins of leaving the house.

So they definately reduced overstimulation.

My son is also suspected of having dyslexia and dyscalculia. But the lenses don't seem to have helped with that.

Prior to the lenses, or when not wearing the lenses my son used to complain of things he could see, or patterns (ie. rainbows on the walls), or stationery objects moving. Now he doesn't mention these visual disturbances any more.

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Irlen lenses were the first lenses on the market for dyslexia. They are indistinguishable from normal optometric filters (as are cerium lenses) although they are made to stricter tolerances.

Prescribing techniques are as follows (unless they have changed)

Irlen - essentially trial and error - broad spectrum lenses

Cerium - essentially a colour wheel subtractive system - broad spectrum lenses

Orthoscopics - additive system - broad spectrum and band filters. this is the one I use and it is better in every way for a professional (funded by UK government as a significant improvement on previous methods above which were cited as prior art). It is much more expensive for professionals to train - but the difference is massive. Band filters are best in about 80% of cases

 

things you should take into account when choosing -

1 the knowledge level of the prescriber - make sure that they are GOC registered - this ensures a minimum standard of eye knowledge - clinical problems are common

2 high cost does not mean good quality - I would find it hard to justify cost of non specialist lenses (broad spectrum) - for children we supply these through NHS when appropriate

3 Beware of anyone suggesting overlays are a good method of assessment - they are nearly always poor

4 As an optician - I would choose my prescriber VERY carefully - the difference that can be made is enormous - and it is life changing in many cases.

5 Reading tests are not very good in ASD - cross sensory tests are essential

6 Can the optical professional test non verbal / non communicative - if yes - go to them. This is the vital question to ask

 

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Until i chelated for a year i needed these specs. i no longer have severe light sensitivity that i used to and the ME/CFS has completely gone away!

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We orginally went to Aston University to take part in some research on how people with ASD and Aspergers see the world.

 

 

 

We have also gone for an assessment for cerium lenses at the same place. They carry out a full assessment and luckily for us my son was already wearing the right colour shade. They have also given him exercises for his eyes which have made a big difference.

 

You have to be referred by your doctor or opiticum and there is a waiting list.

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I have just placed an informative video on youtube to introduce parents to visual problems and ASD

 

 

I hope it is helpful

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Hey Ian watching the video, there is a sentence that doesn't make sense to me. "... and the visual perceptual world in ASD may be appear to be very different in many ways". I keep going over it in my head but it doesn't sound right. :unsure:

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bad english - sorry - and not changeable

 

People on the spectrum perceive the world in a spectrum of ways, varying from "simple" methods that would be recognised by doctors and optical professionals, to visual worlds that are extremely disturbing and frightening, and totally alien to professionals, causing inadequate responses. Most fall between these extremes, but it is important that parents realise that their world may be completely different to the world experienced by their child. They need to know, and the options that are available that can reduce stress, anxiety and sensory difficulties

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Vision is always a hard one, because how can you tell if you see things dings different;y to another person? (well, sometimes it's obvious, but how do you know your green is the same as my green etc)

 

When my kids can swim a length unaided, they are allowed goggles. When my AS son got goggles he swore that it made everything look much better and easier to see and they were even better than his glasses (he is short-sighted). We spent some time, and a reasonable amount of money researching colour perception (his goggles were blue tint), finding and booking sessions with a local colour therapist and then buying and tinting a new pair of glasses for him - in blue as colour therapist suggested. He wore them a for about a week, and decided that he didn't like the world looking that way after all :rolleyes:

 

I'm pretty certain he sees the world differently to NT people, but in most places he seems happier that way!

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Hi Ian,

I am not sure if my question is acctually related to the problems with vision. My son (10) can recognised all the colours BUT there are times when he finds hard to recognize some shades of green, red, pink or brown. When asked once what colour is his hair? he said that he had a green hair! Other times he would perfectly recognize them. Sometimes, he has to look twice in order to say correctly. I am just curious how it is possible? I thought that either you can be Daltonist or you are not. I ve never heard of cases that they are sometimes yes, sometimes not and only with some shades of colours. I wonder if that is to do with problems with vision you are talking about or it is something else?

 

Danaxxx

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Visual processing disorders and colour naming are very different. There are also a number of colour vision difficulties ranging from matching difficulties to complete loss of colour perception, they are related but separate to the range of visual perceptual anomalies due to stimulus. It is EXTREMELY complex and most optical professionals find it a difficult area. There are very few competent people nationally in this area and satisfactory instrumentation is rare (there are only around 12 instruments in the UK that can assess to absolute standards and although there are many people that use colour therapies, the difference can be massive between methodologies )

It is impossible for a parent / teacher /non specialist to assess, and also know the level of knowledge of the colour "expert" that they go to. The simple question you should ask is "Do you prescribe to CIE standards?" This is the internationally recognised method of determining colour. If they don't - don't go!

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Hi Ian

 

Fascinating topic. It is interesting to know there is a different angle to consider when trying to understand how people with asd perceive the world. I had seen things about the coloured lenses, but nothing about what you are explaining.

 

Thanks for posting!

 

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Hi Ian,

Visual perceptual problems are of interest to me as my son wears Irlen lenses, and we have briefly spoken about this before. We also discovered my son did not have binocular vision and only recently, after months and months of exercises, have they finally discharged him.

I have also met or corresponded with other adults on the spectrum who wear tinted lenses ie. Donna Williams and Wendy Lawson. I must say I don't think my son has huge difficulties in this area although his emotional vocabularly is quite basic.

As you say, it is also usually a package of difficulties with problems with sensory perception in any or all of the senses and communication between the senses is often affected as well. I have also found (with my own son) there is often a tendency to wrongly connect sensory information that is not at all related but is experienced and perceived as being part of the one thing. Added onto that there are also learning styles such as gestalt where whole scenarios, either visually, auditorily etc are 'recorded' as being one thing instead of the constituent parts. Infact, the list goes on and on.

But I seem to remember that I read somewhere that most of the sensory information comes in visually, and therefore it seemed logical to me to address any difficulties in the visual sense first to see if it has any knock on effect with the other senses.

I know that you have a clinic up in Scotland. As a resident in England would I, or anyone, have to come to you as a private patient or can we come simply as an NHS patient who has chosen to be seen by an optician in Scotland?

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Any UK resident can get NHS eye tests in Scotland - so we get about 3 people every day from England and see them through the NHS.

 

 

 

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Are the specific tests you do recognised by the NHS or are they additional tests that have to be paid for privately? The reason I ask is that our local hospital does now screen for Irlen Syndrome, however they only prescribe overlays and not the lenses - bizzare!

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we stopped using overlays as being inadequate for professional use around 11 years ago!

 

we do not make any charges for assessment (and can test much more than reading!)

 

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This is a very interesting topic for me, as my daughter, as well as the autism, also is registered partially sighted and blind in one eye. She was born with cateracts and after surgery the scar tissue built up. anyway, she wears glasses and i have been wondering recently if a tint in her lenses would help. I have googled, but still can't get my head round it. Should I mention it to the optician? Are there tests he could do to see if it may help?

Thanks

WK

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Was wondering if my reading from right to left (ie upside down better than the right way up) could be corrected using this therapy?

i live near Bristol and need some help getting some color therapy contacts.

 

Also if anyone knows a driver that will permanently put my screen upside down on my PC i will be grateful for your help.

 

Alexis

Edited by trekster

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Optometrist in my county prescribed colorimeter lenses for me sometime ago. A few years back I went back

for a retest and was told they weren't needed anymore.

 

Search results on 'visual stress' and dyslexia

 

http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=visual+stress+%2B+dyslexia&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholart&sa=X&ei=LflUULIEqdLRBa74gMAG&ved=0CB0QgQMwAA

 

Also some search results for "visual stress" + ASD

 

http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?q=%22visual+stress%22+%2B+ASD&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&as_vis=1

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