Lots of good reads here:

http://www.covd.org/Home/OVDJournal/OVD403/tabid/277/Default.aspx

It was really tough, (and expensive) with all the broken and missing glasses. Flex-On frames are a must for him!!!!

A head strap was a must. We found that the Chums cotton strap worked well and didn’t set off his sensory issues as much. He now uses a padded strap that I got from Camille at framehuggers and tolerates that well.

One thing that I did was pick an activity that he liked doing (computer) and had him do it only when he wore his glasses. He associated the glasses with a positive reinforcer. I had the behaviorist help me with this also at school and we gradually increased it.

Now, he seeks out his glasses and will ask for them when before he would just squint. He also doesn’t just take them off and leave them places as much. We started out with a shoe box and made that his “glasses spot” for where he could put his glasses when not in use. Then, when moved the shoe box to the top of his sidetable next to his bunk bed (down at the lower level) and then we took the box away and had him start to just leave them on the table there before climbing up into his bunk. He takes them off last thing and then puts them on first thing. He will very rarely take them off when he is getting tired and leave them wherever – but very rarely.

Good luck and if you have any questions, feel free to contact me!!

I was a behavior therapist for kids with autism before staying home with the kids. If you have a therapist working with you guys, see if you can work in some glasses training with your program. If not, try starting your own program with very small goals of keeping glasses on for seconds at a time followed by praise or something else reinforcing like a light up toy or bubbles. It would look like this: put glasses on child, have another person next to you to blow the bubbles immediately (or turn on light up toy or something else he likes). After a while, you can try delaying the reinforcement by 1 second, then increase the time as he is successful. You may also try putting the glasses on while he is watching tv or a movie.

Another type of frames to look into are made by Swiss flex and called t2s. They are extremely light weight and hold up to abuse. The marketing for it claims that you can barely feel them on your face. The downside about these frames is that they are expensive and you have to buy from a distributer which may be hard to find one depending on your location.

From my guess, any glasses that are metal with those nose pads are probably really uncomfortable for him and feel strange on his face.

Best of luck to you guys!

A few things that we have noticed that have helped with this problem:
- We try to be sensitive to when she is the most sensitive – when she is most resistant to the glasses is when she is very tired or is experiencing sensory overload (for example, if we try to put them on when her brother is jumping around the room like crazy, then it’s a lost cause!). So we give her a “pass” at those times, and wait until she is a little more tolerant.

- At first, we were happy with just a few minutes of glasses at a time. Take it slowly. We would do things like: “After we wear our glasses for 5 minutes we are going to get a big snuggle! (or treat or whatever)” Somehow, she seemed to rise to those challenges, and her tolerance time gradually grew.

- We noticed that at different times she preferred different glasses (her first prescription we got 2 pair – an expensive one and a cheapie – and with her second prescription we got 3 pair). We let her choose which ones (if we can find them!). I don’t think it is just a fickle preference – I truly think that because each one is shaped, colored and fit differently, she does feel a difference.

I hope these ideas help.