Closing one eye

[NoPinkPlease]

Hi

Just a new thing for my probably ASD ds(5) that I'm wondering about. He occasionally looks at me and closes one eye as though he's squinting from bright sunlight. But he does it in different lights and situations, so don't think it's that kind of squinting. Does it sound like a stim or sensory overload reaction or just something he's trying out or something unrelated to see the dr / optician about? Any thoughts v welcome.

Stim
DS does it
He likes the way light refracts and makes patterns.
If its at a time he needs to be concentrating on something else then I tell him to look nicely. If he doesn't I put my hand between what he's looking at and his eyes to block it until he refocuses on what he should be doing.

I would take him to get an eye check just to rule that out first.

Not sure if it sounds like a stim exactly, but if the optician gives him a clean bill of health, it could be sensory related or even a tic. My ds has a face scrunching tic when things aren't going so well at school and it took me a while to realise that's what it was.

Cross posted and learned something in the process.

I hadn't considered the way squinting would affect light - yes I can totally see that now.

I would still perhaps book a basic opticians check if you are at all concerned.

Just to say we get DS eyes checked at the hospital
He could probably manage an optician now but when he was not able to answer instructions the paed referred us to the ophthalmologist at the hospital who did eye tests instead

Thanks, will get him checked out. I got glasses at 7, so he's not far off that... One of things I hope I've not passed on :-(

If he has a minor squint and sometimes sees double, shutting one eye will fix it.

It might be a stim, or it might be a visual problem. I screw up my face horribly without my glasses on and have to close my right eye when I'm looking at things without them or else I can't see properly with my dominant eye.

I do see double when I'm tired, as my eyes lose their ability to accommodate, but that doesn't really make me squint more.

My DS used to screw his face up terribly.I thought he was stimming. It turned out that he needed glasses, so I would get his eyes tested.