Lighting for the Spectrum
Learning Objectives

  1. Autism Lighting Resources and Current Research
  2. Color Temperature Lighting Options
  3. Bedtime & Sleep Tips
  4. Glare Lighting Challenges
We have all experienced the power of a good night's sleep, waking refreshed and alert. This webpage has some ideas to help your child get a good night's sleep, often resulting in fewer meltdowns and tantrums. Current lighting research demonstrates the importance of sleep for everyone. Care givers risk exhaustion when loved ones are not sleeping, because their sleep is also affected. Your biological circadian clock always functions, the goal is to help it function well by honoring the lighting mechanisms built into our bodies.
Bedtime Cuing with colored lighting for autism
Color cuing, "red means bed" as lighting is used to communicate cues for approaching bedtime routine.
"Autism is a neurological disorder that inhibits individuals from communicating and socializing in a traditional manner that we are used to. They also a lot of times have sensory overload, maybe noise is affecting them, so they often wear earphones, or maybe glare is really an issue so they will wear glasses, sometimes even tactile." Connie Samla, P, LC, SMUD. Life-Changing Lighting: A Case Study on Lighting for Children with Autism, Lightfair 2020

​Study shows lighting can positively impact behavior of children with autism

SMUD studies 36 families participated in study for lighting in homes of children with autism

SMUD (Sacramento Municipal Utility District) partnered with the UC Davis MIND Institute, FlyBrave Foundation and others to study the effects of programmable lighting systems in the homes of children with autism. After 29 weeks of study, experts found significantly positive results using programmable lighting techniques and have released their findings. The full report can be found here.
 https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/In-Our-Community/Classes-and-Workshops/Lighting-for-the-Spectrum-Report-Final.ashx
“The results of this study are significant, with families reporting marked improvements in behavior, daily routines and activity transitions by utilizing programmable lighting systems,” said SMUD lighting expert Connie Samla. ​ [1]
SMUD.org/CircadianLighting is an online resource with videos, charts, and testimonials.
https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/In-Our-Community/Classes-and-Workshops/Circadian-Lighting-and-You.ashx

Circadian System

Light affects our circadian system more than we realize. The following list highlights a few areas of recent discoveries in lighting research.
Human Biological Clock - Lighting for Autism
Click on image for larger view.
Light Color Temperature Schedule, Lighting for Autism
Light Color Temperature Schedule

Light Sources & Color Temperature

In this chart above, color tunable lighting is used to change the color temperature of the light from coolest in the morning to warmest at night.  Color Rendering Index (CRI) above 90 is recommended; however, for some special applications, 90 CRI is not always available.  See LED Kelvin Color page.
Cooler lights are perceived as brighter, will wake you up, may be better for reading to provide higher contrast between print and page, although warmer lights should be used two or three hours before bedtime.  See Circadian and Sleep pages.
Light source selection influences the perception of colors, specifically hue and color rendering, when performing color sensitive tasks such as coordinating clothing or sorting colors.
Avoid blue light at night.
Many children are afraid of the dark, find red/orange/yellow night lights. Red nightlights help with Circadian entrainment. See Red Nightlight page.
TOOLS: Philips HUE has 'feel better with light' phone app that works with their color changing light bulbs. Control the lighting via phone or motion sensors.

Six Tips for helping your child to go to sleep

  1. Routine with lights dimmed and warmer approaching bedtime helps your child wind down. Color cuing lighting can assist.
  2. 10-15 minute fading lights dim-to-off period before sleep.
  3. Darken room with blackout curtains, especially in summertime.
  4. Amber nightlights and dim warm end table lights.
  5. Warm amber or red color under bed night lights or light tape dimmed low for security and navigation.
  6. Classical music for the mind to follow, breathing exercises, and teddy bears all can help calm us.
Read more Sleep Tips visit my Sleep & Lighting page

Three tips for morning wake up

  1. Turn on overhead lighting.
  2. Use cool temperature, 6000 Kelvin, for morning circadian stimulus.
  3. Allow 15 minutes to awaken, light naturally goes through the eyelids.

Lighting Control Empowers

  1. Allow child to pick favorite colors, from preset dim palette,  as pre-bedtime routine.
  2. Allow child to press timer for 'lights dim to off' mode.
  3. Provide bedroom clock with red numbers, so children know what time it is and learn when to continue sleeping and when to get up in the morning. Tape red theatrical gel filter or red plastic over illuminated red clock face to make it even darker and more red. Bed pillow on the mattress can be used to shield view of clock. (Providing an alarm clock for my first grader stopped morning tantrums, because now she was in charge of her schedule.)
  4. Older children can assist in programming lighting within the parameters set by parents.

Avoiding Glare

Glare is the effect of brightness or differences in brightness within the visual field sufficiently high to cause annoyance, discomfort, or loss of visual performance. Sensitive individuals may feel extreme reaction to any or all glare types, and avoidance behaviours may occur.
Glare – Disability Glare
If task performance is affected, it is called disability glare
Glare – Discomfort Glare
Visual discomfort caused by excessive brightness is called discomfort glare.
Glare – Direct Glare
Glare resulting from very bright sources of light in the field of view. It usually is associated with bright light from luminaires and windows. A direct glare source may affect occupant’s performance by reducing the apparent contrast of objects in the field of view, especially those near the source of light.
Glare – Indirect Glare
Glare produced from a reflective surface.
Glare – Reflected Glare or Veiling Reflection
Glare resulting from bright reflections from polished, glossy, or illuminated objects and surfaces in the field of view.  Veiling reflections reduce visual contrast and make it difficult to complete seeing tasks such as reading glossy magazines or looking through windows or at computer screens. Often windows or light fixtures will reflect off surfaces obscuring what is beneath, anticipate this visual obstacle by careful placement of lights, windows, and tasks. Remember with glare, 'the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection' just like billiards.
Visual Comfort Probability (VCP) 
A rating system for evaluating direct discomfort glare. This method is a subjective evaluation of visual comfort, when viewing from a specific location and in a specified direction, expressed as the percent of occupants of a space who will be bothered by direct glare. VCP allows for several factors: luminaire luminances at different angles of view, luminaire size, room size, luminaire mounting height, illuminance, and room surface reflectivity. VCP tables are often provided as part of photometric reports by lighting manufacturers.

For more on Glare ​visit: https://www.chromatherapylight.com/led-glare.html LED Glare

Learn More

Footnotes

  1. https://www.smud.org/en/Corporate/About-us/News-and-Media/2020/2020/Study-shows-lighting-can-positively-impact-behavior--of-children-with-autism
  2. https://www.smud.org/-/media/Documents/In-Our-Community/Classes-and-Workshops/Circadian-Lighting-and-You.ashx​

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