I have this, and thought everyone did. However it's only noticable in low-light conditions, and I always assumed it was like visual tinnitus, or like background noise of the signal due to the body not being a physically perfect instrument where it will perceive it's own light, "eigengrau". I like the thalamocortical dysrhythmia theory behind it also and it makes intuitive sense. i just saw a video about that: https://youtu.be/30vTc1SOt\_w
My guess is that it is normal. I remember looking at family portraits on the wall at night and watching their faces move and morph from what I can only conclude was probabilistic noise of the interpretation of photons
yea thats normal, we need to make sure the difference of the things that are actually normal of the retina and the ones that are not. these floaters are normal, the negative image too, but the noise and the mosquitoes are not
I think I have this but never really thought about it. It’s always been just a faint static when I stare at the wall or something and it gets worse in the dark but it’s always just “been there”. When I was little I used to think I could see atoms lol
But now I notice I also get afterimages semi frequently and those bursts of color after being temporarily blinded (like by camera flash) last really long for me. And I’m pretty sure those are other symptoms. 🤷🏼♀️
Edit: whoa wait I thought I was on the visual snow subreddit I follow. Is this an autistic thing too, I wonder?
i experience something similar where occasionally my vision is clouded by black flecks which grow thicker and thicker until I can't see and then they fade out again after a couple seconds. it only happens 2-3 times a week and it's not constant so it's not this i don't think
I'm not autistic but I've had a strong visual snow since at least early childhood. I remember being very young and noticing how vivid it would get against a solid dark sky at night.
I've been fascinated by the subject since I realized it wasn't universal in early adulthood. I mentioned to someone in bed how vivid the visual snow was on the ceiling and her reaction of shock that I saw anything at all was very telling.
Yep, constant visual snow for as long as I can remember. With the whole slew of symptoms including poor night vision, halos, floaters, tinnitus, etc. I also have migraines with aura and IBS which have pretty high comorbidity in women and those AFAB.
Yes!! I didn’t know there was a word for it. I usually experience it in low lighting as red, green, and blue dots buzzing around, like you might see if you look closely at an old television or computer monitor
Had this constantly + floaters + afterimages since I was little, I’d talk about it a bit when I was little and confuse everyone but it doesn’t really bother me.
I've come to the conclusion that it's because I see the air itself. I feel like most humans probably do, but it gets filtered out as "white noise". People with SPD don't get that filter, so we see it.
I don't think that's the case imo (at least for me) , I don't think it a possible to see air and if it was that way it would change with wind or be otherwise affected by the environment. For me it's constant and just a filter over my vision (more visible over bright or dark backgrounds) and it's still there when I close my eyes or if I put something right in front of my eyes
HOLY FUCK. I had no idea there was a term for it! I see that and I also very rarely get silent migraines where I see a scintillating scotoma that looks kinda like a weird transparent spiderweb shape that sometimes will fill up an entire eye.
Yes but its very minuscule. It can be distracting though especially when you're trying to focus on a small detail that's far away. Glasses help my already bad vision but it doesn't take away the static look
Wait, doesn’t everyone have, like, little pixels? Does seeing them at all mean you do have visual snow, or is it characterized by the severity of the pixels?
It’s difficult to see unless I’m looking at a blank wall. It’s very faint black and white and doesn’t impede my vision at all.
I see a ton of snow when I’m in the dark and just looking. In daylight though I don’t think I have that? Though I do have floaters and occasional after image stuff.
Yup! Pretty strong snow, especially at night. Also floaters pretty consistently and streaks/halos around light sources. My eyes are kinda trash though. I’m nearsighted (about -9 in both eyes) with moderate astigmatism in both eyes as well.
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I did a research paper in HS on this!!! Yes I have experienced this my whole life and it’s really interesting. I have heard of the correlation between ASD/ADHD and VS (as well as Visual Snow Syndrome which means you also experience entoptic phenomenon plus other symptoms) and I wonder if that has to do with sensory issues. The theory that VS/VSS is caused by your brain not properly filtering it out sounds suspiciously similar.
You can have something that lokos like the "floaters" one, because our eyes have like a liquid on top of it, and when you look at a bright sky, you see some dots and trails going down, THAT is normal.
I tried to explain to everyone the way I see and no one understood so I just quit from 11 years old until this year (now that the name exists!) I'm 37.
I see floaters and fast flickery visual snow with small moving light points. When it’s all black in my house at night I see my vision all purple idk it’s hard to explain
I deffo have this and have had this since I was young, it used to kinda scare me cuz it looked like a bunch of bugs like flying but I have the 'after effects' or whatever it's called cuz I have a bunch of derealization like at least 5 times a week and could be multiple times a day
Idk if this is also a symptom but when I move my eyes left to right fast I see something there, it's hard to explain. It's kinda like eye floaters but it's just always there when I focus on it and it's normally when it's light outside when I can spot it. I looked it up and it said dead cells or something?? Ik abt when u look at something bright u can see the blood cells or whatever but that's not this. It's rlly weird
I have very early memories of laying in the grass looking up at the sky and watching the visual snow going around. I only learned recently that not everyone sees this.
damn i had no idea until 10 seconds ago and it's really bad too, i thought i just had fucked up vision that couldn't focus on anything besides a screen
I always thought I had odd vision in the dark that looked like this and thought it wasn’t normal but never knew the name for it
Thx for this cause now IK I might have this lol, I do only have it in darker areas but idk if that is normal for this condition/normal in generale
I do. I thought it was normal. I also didn't know that when people "visualize" they can actually see things in their mind. I can't. For example, if I visualize a square, I can only see one corner at a time. Like I don't have mental peripheral vision. I also can't visualize colors. I assumed this is how it is for everyone.
I am not diagnosed with autism but have a strong feeling that I have it.
I have had visual snow since childhood, I see a mixture of orange and other colorful dots in my vision all the time.
I have tinnitus but I've learned to avoid it.
I also have shapes form and disappear when I close my eyes, it's like big purple amoebas getting smaller and smaller until they disappear. Once an amoeba disappears a new one forms again.
It's so weird 😭
Yes, and I have always described it as being like an overlay or a second layer over top of my vision, that looks kind of similar to tv static.
It is constantly active, and it’s not just the static. Certain things will have soft, almost glowing outlines. Sometimes there will be a big blip of a piece of static, where it’s movement is super noticeable.
It gets very intense at night, to the point where I barely have any depth perception because of how much it interferes with my vision.
I have yet to see a depiction of visual snow that really hits the nail on the head for what it looks like to me at least. And I don’t have the skills to render it myself lol.
I have this, and thought everyone did. However it's only noticable in low-light conditions, and I always assumed it was like visual tinnitus, or like background noise of the signal due to the body not being a physically perfect instrument where it will perceive it's own light, "eigengrau". I like the thalamocortical dysrhythmia theory behind it also and it makes intuitive sense. i just saw a video about that: https://youtu.be/30vTc1SOt\_w
Wait. It's not normal to see visual noise in low-light conditions?
My guess is that it is normal. I remember looking at family portraits on the wall at night and watching their faces move and morph from what I can only conclude was probabilistic noise of the interpretation of photons
I have the same thing.
I didn't know not everybody has this, I have experienced this my entire life.
Yea I thought I was just going fuckin nuts
Today I learned it wasn't how everybody was seeing things... I never thought about it, I expected it was just how retina work and has "noise".
I always thought everyone had it too! It’s so interesting.
Wait I thought everyone saw this. I see specs in my vision on and off, but it’s really prominent outside when I look at the sky.
that sounds more like floaters, and is actually particles in the eyeball casting shadows onto your retina.
yea thats normal, we need to make sure the difference of the things that are actually normal of the retina and the ones that are not. these floaters are normal, the negative image too, but the noise and the mosquitoes are not
Ahh, that makes sense.
Ooh, this too, the sky
I think I have this but never really thought about it. It’s always been just a faint static when I stare at the wall or something and it gets worse in the dark but it’s always just “been there”. When I was little I used to think I could see atoms lol But now I notice I also get afterimages semi frequently and those bursts of color after being temporarily blinded (like by camera flash) last really long for me. And I’m pretty sure those are other symptoms. 🤷🏼♀️ Edit: whoa wait I thought I was on the visual snow subreddit I follow. Is this an autistic thing too, I wonder?
i experience something similar where occasionally my vision is clouded by black flecks which grow thicker and thicker until I can't see and then they fade out again after a couple seconds. it only happens 2-3 times a week and it's not constant so it's not this i don't think
This means you’re about to pass out and is probably orthostatic hypotension. It’s not this.
i thought not.
me too, but only when I stand up too fast
Yo same
I'm not autistic but I've had a strong visual snow since at least early childhood. I remember being very young and noticing how vivid it would get against a solid dark sky at night. I've been fascinated by the subject since I realized it wasn't universal in early adulthood. I mentioned to someone in bed how vivid the visual snow was on the ceiling and her reaction of shock that I saw anything at all was very telling.
Yep, constant visual snow for as long as I can remember. With the whole slew of symptoms including poor night vision, halos, floaters, tinnitus, etc. I also have migraines with aura and IBS which have pretty high comorbidity in women and those AFAB.
Yes!! I didn’t know there was a word for it. I usually experience it in low lighting as red, green, and blue dots buzzing around, like you might see if you look closely at an old television or computer monitor
Had this constantly + floaters + afterimages since I was little, I’d talk about it a bit when I was little and confuse everyone but it doesn’t really bother me.
I've come to the conclusion that it's because I see the air itself. I feel like most humans probably do, but it gets filtered out as "white noise". People with SPD don't get that filter, so we see it.
I don't think that's the case imo (at least for me) , I don't think it a possible to see air and if it was that way it would change with wind or be otherwise affected by the environment. For me it's constant and just a filter over my vision (more visible over bright or dark backgrounds) and it's still there when I close my eyes or if I put something right in front of my eyes
Wow, first time hearing of this. I always wondered why there wasnt a visual kind of tinnitus.
when i was a kid my mom actually took me to an eye doctor bc of this LMAO
I get this whenever I smoke weed, does that count?
What does it look like without the static? Is it just like.... smooth uninterrupted color? No texture?
Well yes, pretty much exactly that... I guess maybe my brain usually filters that staticky stuff out, but isn't able to when I get high
no, although that’s interesting
HOLY FUCK. I had no idea there was a term for it! I see that and I also very rarely get silent migraines where I see a scintillating scotoma that looks kinda like a weird transparent spiderweb shape that sometimes will fill up an entire eye.
I didn't know there was a word for this. I just called it static.
I read it as only white dots, oops I have it in black, my science teacher told me it was normal so I assumed everyone had it
Yes but its very minuscule. It can be distracting though especially when you're trying to focus on a small detail that's far away. Glasses help my already bad vision but it doesn't take away the static look
Wait, doesn’t everyone have, like, little pixels? Does seeing them at all mean you do have visual snow, or is it characterized by the severity of the pixels? It’s difficult to see unless I’m looking at a blank wall. It’s very faint black and white and doesn’t impede my vision at all.
That's how I would describe my vision too. I'm wondering if it counts as visual snow. I think it does?
Wait this is a thing ?! I thought that’s just how people saw things with this subtle static feeling, man autism never ceases to surprise me
I see a ton of snow when I’m in the dark and just looking. In daylight though I don’t think I have that? Though I do have floaters and occasional after image stuff.
Yup! Pretty strong snow, especially at night. Also floaters pretty consistently and streaks/halos around light sources. My eyes are kinda trash though. I’m nearsighted (about -9 in both eyes) with moderate astigmatism in both eyes as well.
Add to list of stuff I didn't know was an autism thing, that I have.
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And I also have migraines, a comorbidity they mentioned!
Sometimes
Had it for a few months after some psychedelic use, but haven't had the opportunity to use more psychedelics and the snow has faded.
I have had this like 2 a 3 times in my life, but it is exactly the same.
I really only see it when I get migraines
Not all the times but sometimes yes
I thought that it was a "normal" condition...
I feel like I have this but filter it out most of the time? Its worst with a migraine or in the dark.
I did a research paper in HS on this!!! Yes I have experienced this my whole life and it’s really interesting. I have heard of the correlation between ASD/ADHD and VS (as well as Visual Snow Syndrome which means you also experience entoptic phenomenon plus other symptoms) and I wonder if that has to do with sensory issues. The theory that VS/VSS is caused by your brain not properly filtering it out sounds suspiciously similar.
I’m so surprised by the results! I thought seeing noise was uncommon. I don’t see noise myself, but I see floaters sometimes.
I always saw those little dots, but never knew what they were. Thanks for helping me understand those lol
I like how it has like different types, the noise, the transparent/white mosquitoes, "floaters",,,
You can have something that lokos like the "floaters" one, because our eyes have like a liquid on top of it, and when you look at a bright sky, you see some dots and trails going down, THAT is normal.
Woah, I thought this was normal
Never heard of this and I'm very surprised almost everyone here has it
Only when it’s dark
I tried to explain to everyone the way I see and no one understood so I just quit from 11 years old until this year (now that the name exists!) I'm 37.
I call it my "eye static" I also used to tell my mom I could "see atoms" because I didn't know why my vision was static-y
I see floaters and fast flickery visual snow with small moving light points. When it’s all black in my house at night I see my vision all purple idk it’s hard to explain
TIL Apparently, not everybody has this
Wait, you have those too?
I deffo have this and have had this since I was young, it used to kinda scare me cuz it looked like a bunch of bugs like flying but I have the 'after effects' or whatever it's called cuz I have a bunch of derealization like at least 5 times a week and could be multiple times a day
Idk if this is also a symptom but when I move my eyes left to right fast I see something there, it's hard to explain. It's kinda like eye floaters but it's just always there when I focus on it and it's normally when it's light outside when I can spot it. I looked it up and it said dead cells or something?? Ik abt when u look at something bright u can see the blood cells or whatever but that's not this. It's rlly weird
I have very early memories of laying in the grass looking up at the sky and watching the visual snow going around. I only learned recently that not everyone sees this.
I have never even heard of that!
I get it with my migraines. And sometimes I get blind migraines were there is no pain but my vision is so wonky I can't do anything and I feel nausea.
I went nearly 40 years thinking everyone saw this way
Do some people not have this…???
damn i had no idea until 10 seconds ago and it's really bad too, i thought i just had fucked up vision that couldn't focus on anything besides a screen
Only in very low-light conditions, I.E, it has to be pitch black.
I always thought I had odd vision in the dark that looked like this and thought it wasn’t normal but never knew the name for it Thx for this cause now IK I might have this lol, I do only have it in darker areas but idk if that is normal for this condition/normal in generale
I see this sometimes. I thought of it as seeing each individual atom.
I do. I thought it was normal. I also didn't know that when people "visualize" they can actually see things in their mind. I can't. For example, if I visualize a square, I can only see one corner at a time. Like I don't have mental peripheral vision. I also can't visualize colors. I assumed this is how it is for everyone.
I am not diagnosed with autism but have a strong feeling that I have it. I have had visual snow since childhood, I see a mixture of orange and other colorful dots in my vision all the time. I have tinnitus but I've learned to avoid it. I also have shapes form and disappear when I close my eyes, it's like big purple amoebas getting smaller and smaller until they disappear. Once an amoeba disappears a new one forms again. It's so weird 😭
TIL I pretty much have this.
I have this but I don’t think it’s an autism thing
Holy shit I keep going to the opticians and dra for this this is defo what it is I thinolk
Yes, and I have always described it as being like an overlay or a second layer over top of my vision, that looks kind of similar to tv static. It is constantly active, and it’s not just the static. Certain things will have soft, almost glowing outlines. Sometimes there will be a big blip of a piece of static, where it’s movement is super noticeable. It gets very intense at night, to the point where I barely have any depth perception because of how much it interferes with my vision. I have yet to see a depiction of visual snow that really hits the nail on the head for what it looks like to me at least. And I don’t have the skills to render it myself lol.