Neurodivergence & Visual Stress
I've been hearing more and more about a potential link between neurodivergence and visual stress. I've had very trusted senior clinical colleagues talk to me about their anecdotal evidence of positive results for using visual stress interventions (such as tinted lenses and coloured sheets) to reduce overwhelm, headaches, and sensory overstimulation, so I begun looking into it further.
What is ‘Visual Stress’?
Visual stress refers to the sensory overload that occurs when the brain struggles to interpret visual stimuli. It can be triggered by high-contrast patterns, small or crowded text, bright lights, or specific colours. People with visual stress often describe the sensation as words or letters "moving," "swirling," or "vibrating" on the page, making it hard to read or concentrate
Although the evidence is emerging, I figured I'd go and learn from some local experts in the field and see what it was all about.
Introducing: Vision Through Colour
Vision Through Colour are a small family-run business of optometrists & practitioners specialising in visual stress based in Newcastle, UK. I met with Andrew & Katherine, who both have an incredible passion for supporting neurodivergent clients and aiding with visual stress.
I knew I had some of my own issues in this area, so decided to go through the full assessment myself so that I could give experiential feedback.
The team were really knowledable, kind, compassionate and patient throughut the whole process. I found they had some brilliant inclusive practices to ensure that the environment, information given, and assessment process was neuroinclusive (and I also gave some pointers on how things could be even better, which they immediately took on board!).
The assessment itself was robust and included a really interesting visual stress assessment with hexagram. Although my profile was only a little spiky (some significant but less common issues around patterns, flickering lights and reading strain on PC’s) I know of others who are debilitated by their visual stress experience and could really benefit from this service.
The coloured sheet test was fascinating, the unbelievable difference in how much effort and strain I was putting into reading from normal paper to coloured paper felt like putting on a pair of glasses, which I already need!
My reading speed increased by 20%… and as someone who reads on average seventy books a year, I was thrilled to think that could mean even more books!
The colorimeter helped to really refine which colour gives me the most benefit, which to my joy was my favourite colour orange and also quite a dark blue.
We then used these wild glasses to test that colour in real time and in real situations: Big light on, off, reading off a wall, reading text etc.
I had to look at patterns on a piece of paper and without the colour glasses on it made me feel nauseous and dizzy, which immediately went away with the coloured lenses.
Next steps for the assessment is an additional test to confirm the colour and test some of the sheets over the next few weeks, then a dispensary appointment looking at actually getting the lenses made into glasses.
The dispensing appointment was also really great over at Keyes Eyecare.
As someone who really struggles with imaginative imagery, I have no concept of "what will look good on my face", "what colour frame will work well with an orange lens" and "how do you pick nice looking frames?!". The staff member (whose name in typical Tom-fashion I've forgotten), picked up one set of frames that seemed perfect, and after going through about 25 more, we settled on the original pair that she got first.
At my review appointment we went back through the colorometer test to see if the colour of tint that I had originally chosen was actually right.
What was absolutely wild was that, of up to 10,000 colours available, going through the test I ended up on the exact same colour on my second test as I had on the first test.
It turns out that an orange tint dramatically reduces the level of visual stress that I was experiencing. With an orange tint, I was finally able to read Wordsworth Classic books without discomfort (at least in the short term of the assessment).
Overall, I thought I was going to Vision through colour originally just to learn about the link, the research, and what they're doing to support neurodivergent people across the ages with visual stress. I came away with a real appreciation of what a huge difference coloured lenses can make on overall stress and sensory overload, and regulation in overstimulating environments.
Now that I've got my glasses, I've been testing them with prolonged computer use, reading awkward and small font, and generally wearing them around the house and in the sunshine. Whilst reading with them I wasn't sure whether they were making a difference, but then when I took them off I realised that the difference was really significant! I was reading small font on my PC screen without issue with the glasses on, but when taking them off I could barely read it for a few minutes without having to look away.
As the research is still emerging, with more research likely to emerge as understanding grows in the coming years, visual stress assessments are not included on the NHS and thus this is currently only a private healthcare option (as far as I’m aware).
By the end of the testing on each day, my eyes were strained and fatigued. I needed to have a lie down and had to cancel some plans in the evening, so if you go down this route be kind to yourself and have a low stimulation evening, and plan ahead to ensure you don’t have any commitments straight afterwards.
I would genuinely recommend Vision Through Colour for those local to Newcastle. The staff are brilliant, and as someone with ADHD & Autism, I found the process really comfortable and inclusive throughout.
If you’d like to check them out, their website is here: https://visionthroughcolour.co.uk/
For full disclosure: The assessments and glasses were very kindly gifted to me after I showed an interest in the topic as a neurodiversity expert, however I have been under absolutely no obligation to provide a positive review.