Epilepsy and Osbourne lights....

WUVmyDISNEY

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 22, 2008
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My DS 20 has seizures that are controlled with medication and doing very well. He may be joining us on our upcoming trip......I am concerned about O Lights and thinking he should avoid the area. Has anyone had experience with this? Also, are there any other attractions that he should avoid? Thanks
 
Not time for a long answer right now, but when people think of epilepsy, they think of flashing lights being a problem. The majority of people with seizures are not sensitive to flashing lights or are only sensitive in certain situations - like when they have been sleep deprived (purposely not allowed to sleep) which lowers the amount of stimulation it takes to trigger a seizure. Even then, it takes a certain regular frequency of lights flashing for those people to trigger a seizure. Those things are known and WDW plans attractions not to have strobe lights (those high intensity lights that seem to stop motion when they flash) and not to have flashes in the frequency that can possibly cause problems.
If your DS does not have light sensitive type of seizures, there is probably nothing he needs to avoid. Much more important, according to my DD's neurologist, is keeping medications on schedule, avoiding dehydration and avoiding sleep deprivation (someone could stay out until post midnight and then go to a park at opening the next morning, but that may not allow enough sleep time). He would want to check with his doctor, but keep in mind that formost people those things are more important than lights, especially lights that are flashing irregularly.

Also, for the Osborne Lights, they present a show with lights flashing to music, but there are also times between shows where the lights are just lit.

This turned into a long answer anyway!

If you go to the disABILITIES FAQs thread, you will find some further information about seizures and WDW. There is a link to the FAQs thread in my signature or you can find it near rhe top of this board.
 
My DS 20 has seizures that are controlled with medication and doing very well. He may be joining us on our upcoming trip......I am concerned about O Lights and thinking he should avoid the area. Has anyone had experience with this? Also, are there any other attractions that he should avoid? Thanks

Does your son have photosensitive epilepsy? If so, do you know the frequencies at which he cannot look without getting an aura or having a seizure? My brother knows his, and is careful about what not to watch (no police lights, looking at the white dashed lines on the highway, etc). I don't think the lights flash when the lights aren't dancing, but I can ask some people I know about it.
 
Thank you both so much for the responses. I will definately read through the epilepsy section on the board. As for the photosensitivity, I do not recall that being something his dr brought up. I think mainly this light thing was something I just always thought triggered things. We will definately speak to the dr about this and get more clarification if this would be a concern for him in general. Have a great day!
 















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