I was diagnosed with low vision and sensory integration disorder (now known as sensory processing disorder) shortly before I started kindergarten. Because of these two conditions, I would often get overwhelmed in loud or noisy environments, have trouble focusing my eyes, or look for absolutely any excuse possible to leave and go somewhere else that was quieter. After all, I couldn’t control the brightness level of the lights, the noise level in the classroom, or other stimuli that made it hard for me to concentrate.
While a lot of people thought I started to “outgrow” this in middle and high school, I actually just got better at finding quiet places at school and getting permission to go somewhere else when I was feeling overwhelmed. This is a strategy that I would later share with other students I work with so that they could decompress and get much-needed vision breaks or “brain breaks” away from overwhelming sensory input. Here is a list of potential quiet places at school for students with visual impairments to go to if they need vision breaks, brain breaks, or feel like they’re on the edge of sensory overload.
What does visual fatigue feel like?
Everyone’s experience with visual impairment and visual fatigue is different, but for me visual fatigue would manifest in the following ways:
- I have trouble focusing my eyes, which causes my double vision to become harder to control. I have to devote a lot of attention and actively work on focusing my eyes during this time, which can get painful.
- Certain sounds can be painful to listen to, and I would sometimes squeeze my hands, arms, or grab onto my own loose clothing to try and distract myself, which made it harder to focus on the lesson or what I was supposed to be working on.
- Bright lights would hurt my eyes and make it hard to keep them open or read for more than a couple of minutes without thinking about how hard it was to focus. I would spend more time thinking about the act of seeing things than actually processing what I was looking at.
- Pain or discomfort makes it more challenging for me to focus my eyes.
- I would feel like I was “out of brain” or “out of eyes” in that I couldn’t look at anything or use my vision in any meaningful way. I didn’t develop skills for nonvisual access (e.g. using text-to-speech to read text) until I was older, so I was relying on my eyes to access everything visually.
While there are strategies I can use to prevent and minimize visual fatigue to some extent, I cannot avoid it completely as someone with low vision from both an eye condition and a brain condition. However, I did notice improvement when I started wearing non-polarized tinted glasses.
Related links
- More about my eyes
- Disability Accommodations For Fluctuating Eyesight
- How Tinted Glasses Help My Light Sensitivity
- Two of Everything: Living With Double Vision
- Activity Ideas For Vision Breaks
- Disability and Classroom Accommodations For Chiari Malformation
- My Talk At A Future Date: What I Wish I Learned About AT Before Starting College
Guidance counselor’s office
Many guidance counselors have office spaces with small group work areas or rooms that students can sit in if they are feeling overwhelmed, and they can either practice mindfulness activities or work on class assignments brought from another classroom. I would go to the guidance counselor’s office a few times in middle and high school because it was quieter than other classrooms, and I could get testing accommodations like extended time implemented in this setting as well (this was usually done for things like AP exams). My guidance counselor offered this option to me after I mentioned getting disoriented by flickering/flashing lights in a classroom, and told me I could come to their office with classwork if it was physically uncomfortable sitting in the classroom.
Related links
- How My Guidance Counselor Helped Me As A Low Vision Student
- AP Exam Accommodations For Low Vision
- Virginia SOL Test Accommodations And Low Vision
- Testing Accommodations For Low Vision Students
- Flashing Lights and Photosensitivity in the Classroom
Flex space
My middle school and high schools each had a few examples of flex spaces, including tables in the hallway, risers in a common area, small classrooms that could be used by the teacher of the visually impaired (TVI) or other resource staff, and other non-assigned areas that could be used by students or teachers at any time. I received permission from my classroom teachers to go to these flex spaces to work on assignments by myself or with a partner for paired assignments if I was having trouble concentrating due to noise or light, or if I needed to have a larger table or work surface than what was in the classroom.
Related links
Classroom during planning period
My guidance counselor created a list of classrooms that I could visit during their assigned planning periods if I needed an alternative setting or if I wanted to eat lunch in a location that wasn’t the cafeteria. My band directors always told me I was welcome to come visit during planning periods, and other teachers that I had over the years as well as friends of my teachers would often extend the same offer since they knew I would be quiet and either read a book on my eReader or work on schoolwork. I kept a list on my phone or in my planner of classrooms I could go to at certain times; for example, I knew room 410 was an option during 3rd period, or I could go to room 411 during lunch on B days.
Related links
- How I Use My eReader For School and Online Classes
- Writing Aids For Low Vision: My Personal Superlatives
- Adapting Page Layouts: Math Problems and Low Vision
Library
Even though I couldn’t read any of the books on the shelves, my teachers would let me go to the library in high school to access the computers, use the larger tables/comfortable chairs, or just work in a quieter place. Alternatively, I might get permission to go to the library to watch videos in a well-lit environment, or listen to something without disturbing others.
Related links
- A to Z of Assistive Technology for Reading Digital Text
- Accessible Classroom Library Ideas For Print Disabilities
- Unique Summer Reading Prizes For Print Disabilities
- The Best Study Tips For Auditory Learners
Cafeteria outside of lunch period
To be clear, the cafeteria is absolutely not a quiet place during lunch periods, and it is often the opposite of a relaxing environment for many students with visual impairments or sensory processing disorder! However, when it is not being used during lunch periods, the cafeteria can be another quiet place for students to decompress or get a break from their surroundings if they get permission to go there. My adaptive PE teacher used the cafeteria for some activities as well.
Related links
Small group space
My first high school had several small group spaces that could be used for things like club meetings, activities, and tutoring, many of which were otherwise unused while classes were in session— these were referred to as lecture halls or common areas. Identifying these locations made it easier for me to ask permission to go work there either by myself or with someone else for a group assignment, and I would often choose spaces that were in close proximity to my assigned classroom. These were different from the other flex spaces as they typically had doors and walls, and we were required to leave the door open if we were inside this space.
When I worked on school news and when I was in a mentorship program in high school, I would also use these spaces for filming or for small group lessons, since it was easier for me to control the lighting in the space and it was easier to hear other students talking.
Related links
- How To Make Things On The Board Easier To See
- Requesting Extracurricular Accommodations
- School News and Low Vision
- Ten Skills I Learned During My High School Mentorship
Computer lab
As fun as it would be to be allowed to leave the classroom to go play games in the computer lab, I typically would get permission to go to the computer lab to work on assignments or take proctored tests. In elementary school, my computer teacher would let me come to the computer lab anytime during the day with permission from my teacher, and I could use one of the back computers to type assignments or use tools like calculators and screen magnification.
My elementary school teacher also hosted a “lunch bunch” time where select students were invited to come to the computer lab during their lunch period, and I was granted a standing invitation to come whenever I wanted since my teacher knew I disliked the noisy cafeteria (you’ll always be my favorite teacher, Mr. V!).
Related links
Strategies for introducing quiet place accommodations
My teachers and high school case manager introduced the possibility of having me go to quiet places within the school after I mentioned how overwhelming being in the classroom could get at times— I would put my head down or close my eyes to get a break from everything, or I would find opportunities to leave the classroom with permission. Before I was allowed to consider going to a quiet place somewhere else in the school, we came up with a few “ground rules” I would have to follow:
- I’m not allowed to get up and leave the classroom and go somewhere else— I have to tell the teacher where I am going and get permission first.
- Have an agreed-upon time for when to return, e.g. ten minutes from now.
- Stay inside the school, do not go outside.
- No cell phones allowed— this was more relaxed when I was a junior/senior in high school, but if I was seen using my phone outside of the classroom in earlier years I would lose my “quiet place” privileges.
- No talking with other students in the space, or taking other students with me unless I was working on a paired/group assignment.
- No wandering through the hallways.
- No leaving when the teacher is giving a lesson.
- Unless otherwise given permission, backpacks stay in the classroom (exceptions included things like taking tests with a proctor or for lunch periods where students are expected to have backpacks).
- Once I am in the agreed-upon quiet place, I am not allowed to travel anywhere else except to go back to the classroom— I couldn’t get permission to go to the library and then head to the band room instead.
At first, I was only allowed to go to the guidance counselor’s office or the flex space immediately outside of my classroom, but as time went on and I demonstrated that I could follow these rules I was allowed to go other places or have additional freedoms. By gradually introducing other places I could go, I became better at figuring out when I needed a break and improved my self-advocacy skills in the process. Also, knowing I had the option to leave at certain times made it easier for me to be proactive about managing fatigue, instead of waiting until I was completely burned out.
For the record, it was very rare that a student would ask me where I went or why I was allowed to leave the classroom— going to a quiet place wasn’t something I did every day. I remember one instance where my friend asked why I had left the classroom, so I told them that I went to the library because my eyes were really bothering me in the classroom. They asked if my eyes were feeling better now, but didn’t ask any other questions.
Related links
- Learning to Self-Advocate
- Ways To Practice Self-Advocacy In The Virtual Classroom
- Disability Accommodations For Fluctuating Eyesight
- How I Respond To Questions/Comments About My Eyes
- Having An Undiagnosed Chronic Illness In High School
- How I Talk About Disability With New Friends
Other ideas for creating quiet places at school for students with visual impairments
- Some teachers incorporate calm-down corners or other sensory spaces within their classrooms that can be beneficial for getting a “brain break” for students with vision loss. Learn more about how I take vision breaks in classroom settings in Activity Ideas For Vision Breaks
- When my teachers in high school would play a video with flashing lights, I would go into the hallway and stay within view of the classroom door so that they could see me through the windows. Learn more about class videos in How To Make Classroom Videos Easier To See
- I’m not sure how common this accommodation is for students with visual impairments, because this wasn’t an IEP accommodation or anything like that. I share examples of “official” accommodations I received in Common Classroom Accommodations For Low Vision and Low Vision Accommodations For Print Materials From My Low Vision IEP
Published March 13, 2017. Updated March 2025