Irlen Syndrome
Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome ( or Irlen Syndrome) is a distinct type of visual dyslexia. It is related to difficulty with light source sensitivity, and colour. Research has shown that 50% of those with reading difficulties suffer from Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome.
This Syndrome often is found in a complex or other learning disabilities such as auditory difficulties, poor handwriting, hyperactivity, eye muscle imbalances, allergies, and emotional overlay from feelings of educational or personal inadequacy. In addition to these more common signs, some individuals also exhibit other inhibition disorders which make thought, language, interpretation, and even control of supposedly willful activity difficult.
Often these individuals have been labeled “dumb”, “stupid”, or “lazy”. This label is usually given to those students who appear bright but are not producing to a level considered appropriate for their intellect. In fact, these individuals usually are expending more effort to complete assignments. Often parents and teachers become frustrated with such individuals because attempts at remediation produce little gains.
Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome is a dysfunction which may be hereditary. As such, one is born with the condition and it does not improve or deteriorate with time. What does improve is the individual’s ability to adapt coping strategies to compensate for their educational problems.
Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome is a distinctively different visual problem from visual acuity and refractive errors. Therefore, visual examinations by ophthalmologists and optometrists will not detect this condition. It is a different condition from that which is evaluated by a developmental optometrist. Therefore, this condition is not amenable to vision therapy.
“I thought every one sees the page the way I do. They are just smarter than me. I am so frustrated because I have to work so much harder than other students in order to get the same grade”. Irlen lens candidate
SYMPTOMS
Distortions are common and include letters or words becoming blurry, fading, shaking, or being washed; paragraphs on a page swirling, wavy or rippled; and the appearance of halos around letters. For some people, the white on a page can stand out and the white between letters can look like white rivers that are highly distracting. For others, some letters and words can move, look more bold, or jump from side to side or up and down.
Other symptoms include eyestrain, difficulty focusing, light sensitivity, headaches or migraines, nausea, dizziness, poor depth perception, inefficient reading, poor spelling, and a reluctance to write.
The symptoms of “Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome” can be found on our Observation form. It should be stressed that not all the symptoms described need be present for Irlen Filter Lenses to be helpful. If several of these symptoms persist, despite eye checks, then an Irlen Diagnostic Assessment is recommended. Remember, all clients should be seen by an optometrist before attending an Irlen Clinic.
Reading & Learning
Have you heard of tinted lenses as a remedy for dyslexia, reading disabilities, rapid eye fatigue when reading, headaches, sore eyes, and poor depth perception? The technique uses precisely prescribed tinted filter lenses to correct perceptual disorders and reading disabilities with some very exciting results. The technique was developed in 1984 by a Californian psychologist, Helen Irlen, who was the director of a research project investigating adult reading disabilities at the University of California.
Prominent educators in the field of Special Education, including Dr Greg Robinson, University of Newcastle, and Dr Paul Whiting, University of Sydney, consider this to be the biggest breakthrough in learning disabilities for more than twenty years. However, it must be stressed that this method does not help every person with reading disabilities. Dyslexia can be auditory or visual or both. Research indicates that over half of the people, both children and adults, who find reading difficult, fatiguing or stressful, can be helped considerably with Irlen Filter Lenses. However, even when it is found that Irlen Filters are of benefit, don’t expect miracles. If there are other Learning Difficulties as well, then these will also have to be remediated.
Helen Irlen called this disorder Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity (IS/SS). Essentially it is a specific sensitivity of the visual/perceptual system to certain frequencies within the white light spectrum. This appears to be an inherited physical disability associated with confusion in the visual/perceptive system resulting in a range of symptoms, most of which interfere with effective reading performance. It should be stressed that these symptoms persist despite thorough optometric assessment. Sometimes mild prescription lenses or eye exercises are prescribed with marginal improvement, but this fails to address the source of the problem, which is visuo-perceptual, not optometric.
This new technique, with carefully prescribed Irlen tinted lenses, pinpoints the specific difficulties and the Irlen tinted lenses acts as a filter to prevent specific frequencies of light from reaching the visual- perceptual system. It needs to be emphasized that clients need to have had an optometric assessment within the past eighteen months. This is to ensure that any refractive or astigmatic optometric problems have been corrected prior to assessing for the Irlen Filter Lenses.
PRINT DistortionS
HEADACHES & NAUSEA
Headaches, migraines, and nausea, can all be regularly experienced by people who have Irlen Syndrome. This occurs when the brain tries to make sense of visual information but light sensitivity makes this difficult. Symptoms not only include headaches and migraines, but also nausea, fatigue, eye strain, lack of concentration, and depth perception problems.
Irlen Syndrome is not a problem with the eyes, but a problem related to the brain’s ability to process visual information (i.e. perceptual processing).
There has been some interesting research conducted that shows the link between Irlen Syndrome and headaches and nausea:
– Evidence that symptoms of headaches and other symptoms of strain can be reduced by the wearing of Irlen Spectral Filters which alter the wave lengths of lighting comes from a variety of studies (Bulmer, 1994; Chronicle & Wilkins, 1991; McLachlan, Yale & Wilkins, 1993; Cilkins & Clark, 1990; Wilkins, Nimmo-Smith, Slater & Bedocs, 1989; Wilkins & Wilkinson, 1991).
