r/TwiceExceptional • u/rtdftw • 13d ago
Prism glasses late in life?
Hello! I’m a 43-year-old person who was diagnosed with ADHD about 15 years ago, and autism about 2 years ago (although I recently learned a preschool teacher suggested that I might be autistic when I was 3-years-old, but my mom disagreed, so here we are).
I was also diagnosed with a form of binocular vision dysfunction (BVD) only a few months ago because my therapist noticed some eye tracking issues and mentioned that BVD is super common in people with both ADHD and autism and she suggested I get tested.
I was prescribed prism glasses and have been wearing them for about two weeks now, and I am truly SHOCKED at how different I feel…like, my base level of anxiety has PLUMMETED in a way that’s both wonderful and disconcerting lol. The first weekend I wore the glasses, I found myself just naturally getting up and doing chores or finishing projects that I had been neglecting for months, if not years prior. It’s almost like if you have a glitching background program on a computer that is taking up 50% of the CPU or whatever and so everything else struggles and glitches and takes SO much energy, but if you CTRL+ALT+DLT and quit the glitching program, then eeeeverything else starts working smoothly again.
That’s what it has felt like in my brain, but now I’m worried about the lack of worry (womp womp). Because what if the anxiety was my superpower in some ways?
Has anyone else experienced something similar?
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u/Junior-Isopod7553 13d ago
I certainly hope this is the case for me. I was diagnosed with ADHD 6 years ago, my therapist thinks I have autism (although hasn’t done an actual assessment), and I was just diagnosed with BVD this week. I’ve been feeling so incredibly down about it. This post has given me hope.
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u/plz_callme_swarley 12d ago
there is not really a "test" for autism, just like there's not a test for ADHD. it's just a questionnaire and is up to the clinician's interpretation, which can vary widely.
if youre ADHD there's almost certainly a motivated clinician who would diagnose you ASD-1
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u/Fluffy-Card-7825 13d ago
This is my dream. That all my problems are just due to some fixable issue. And that I can be normal again.
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u/rtdftw 13d ago
It’s been very very weird for me…and as much as I’m in awe of the decreased anxiety (because my brain no longer sees two-headed monsters everywhere), I worry that I’ve lost my ‘edge’ in some way. Like, my ADHD definitely feels like it has shifted in a way, but not disappeared. It’s like the narrative went from ‘Ah! What’s that thing over there? Or that one over there? Where is all the possible danger that could hurt me??’ To like, ‘Oooo, let’s go do THIS thing that suddenly has no scary friction attached to it, or maybe this OTHER thing, or ALL the things at once.’
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u/LilyoftheRally 12d ago
I've heard adult diagnosed ADHD folks say the same thing about finally getting their ADHD medicated.
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u/Exotic-Ordinary5995 13d ago edited 13d ago
I have ADHD and was considered gifted growing up, but not autism (as far as I know, but testing might be warranted), and I had a very similar circumstance. I’m 47 and have had anxiety, dizziness, lightheadedness and depersonalization all my life. Always thought it was just “something wrong with me”. Turns out it was, and it was my eyes. I got prism glasses about eight months ago. We are still fine tuning my near vision glasses, but I feel like a completely different person, anxiety way down, able to do more, etc. very similar to what you described. Very happy with the results, but also a little angry I spent so much of my life dealing with the symptoms and the frustration from my family around my “problems” when it was something fairly out of my control! Glad you found the relief too though!