What do you know about Irlen Syndrome?

[Trillian]

I haven't personally, but I do know of people with children who have it. A local school close to me even ran an information night about it because they have quite a few children with it that go there. The people I know said that their son had to have all of his work printed on buff coloured paper, as he just couldn't see what was printed on a white sheet. But my knowledge is pretty limited. I will see what I can find out for you though. ETA - I forgot to say that he had to wear coloured glasses as well.

I came across this site too that has a lot of info about it http://irlen.com/index.php?s=what not sure if you would have come across that one already though.

[*Efjay*]

Thanks.

Evan Can read well enough but he doesn't comprehend what we reads. Doesn't like to read, really hates to write. can't follow patterns (numeracy) stuff like that. I actually mentioned Dyslexia to his teacher which when she said the Irlen syndrome. It is just a lot of guess work at the moment & we do have appointments later this month with a pead & the school is organising what assessments they can do also. But yeah just want to read up on things so we have some idea.

[milly5]

Hi,

I got tested for Irlin as a cause for migraines. It involved looking at lots of patterns and pages of words and numbers, and trying out the different tints for the lenses to see what colours made a difference (putting a tinted sheet over the paper and working out what colours make the images sharper)
It is not widely accepted or still considered experimental - one doctor I spoke with thought it was hogwash. And interestingly, the glasses or assessment were not covered by my health insurance. But I have a friend whose son (a teen) has the glasses and it has made a world of difference to him.
In the end I didn't get glasses, but adjusted the colour and brightness settings on my computer screen, as that seemed to be the culprit for me.

[christy]

At DD1's school the teacher's son had it and she suggested that M get tested by a behavioural optomotrist. I found one in our area, who bulk bills.... I still haven't done it, but I spoke with M's OT about it who suggested that a lot of children with sensory issues often come up with it if they do have visual processing issues.

[*Efjay*]

Yep, his teacher recommended I take him to a behavioural optomotrist. He is due to have his eyes checked anyway so will go where she suggested. Cairns also has a centre (Bill Spooner) who tests for Irlen Syndrome so we will takeit a step at a time because really everything I have read about it so far, kinda sound like ti could be but not really. Plus being colour blind not sure how the tint will help?

[emc2]

I went to a Behavioural Optometrist for myself, and was told I could pay extra to find out some "eye exercises".

At the next check up I went to an ordinary Optometrist, who explained I had a mild astigmatism, and needed glasses!

[lspen32]

My daughter's teacher recommended she be assessed through an Irlen Clinic. I was sceptical about how the lenses would work but decided to give it a try. She was diagnosed as needing yellow tinted lenses. She was 8 years old at the time and my husband tried her glasses on once we received them and he was amazed at how clearly he could read the text. It turns out that he has been dyslexic all his life and didn't know that that was the cause of his literacy problems throughout his schooling.
Give the lenses a try, they really helped my daughter. She still found primary school a real struggle but it all started to click and become easier in high school. She still takes a lot longer than others to read text but is now in her first year at University.