Irlen syndrome is a load of rubbish?

[GherkinTherapy]

My daughter finds writing really difficult and her school have a dyslexia testing kit, which suggests she is dyslexic (not an official diagnosis).

They have also determined she has something called Irlen syndrome or 'visual stress' which can be alleviated by using green tinted transparent plastic overlays on anything she is reading. The SENCO and various support staff have recommended I have her eyes tested by an Irlen specialist who can provide her some special tinted plastic glasses in just the right colour for her. Given that this is quite pricey and not available on the NHS I did a bit of research on the internet before going ahead. A recent meta-analysis of the data found 'no evidence of treatment effectiveness has been achieved'. It seems any positive effect is placebo.

www.researchgate.net/publication/332205658_Irlen_syndrome_systematic_review_and_level_of_evidence_analysis

And an article in the BMJ saying similar www.bmj.com/bmj/section-pdf/763087?path=/bmj/349/7972/Views_Reviews.full.pdf

I'm not a scientist and maybe I am missing something, but it seems wrong they are pushing an expensive treatment with no evidence to support it's efficacy. I have raised it with the head, but he thinks they are right and I am wrong.

If there's no strong evidence to support the treatment being effective then I think you are in the right to question this. I'd be very wary of something that isn't available on the NHS being pushed on you. I think you have good grounds to question the school.

I think the glasses mainly seem to be used to get extra time in exams etc.

I think it’s a load of rubbish too, you are right.

Irlens is a real thing - it's actually twice as common as dyslexia, but usually missed and/or mis-diagnosed as dyslexia because often the reading/processing issues can look the same.

My DC has Irlens - spotted by a family member who works in Learning Support - but you're right, it's almost impossible to get a diagnosis easily.

However, these pricey assessments aren't necessary, and (usually) nor are the glasses. All that's needed is an overlay and plain/lined paper in whatever colour works for the person (it's different for everyone). A pad of paper is about £5 and overlays can be got on amazon for a couple of ££.

The important thing is to get the colour right - and that will mean a proper assessment, but you should be able to find an optician to do it if you ask around.

It is a 'real thing', though.

As an auntie of a teenage boy with Irlen Syndrome/visual stress i can tell you that it is, in fact, a real thing.

He’s 15, wears tinted glasses all the time and used coloured paper and when coloured paper isn’t an option, he used overlays.

He hates it. If it wasn’t a real thing then why would he put himself through people picking on him just so he could get extra time in exams?

When he looks at normal paper with writing on, the letters move. When he wears the glasses and uses the paper it is fine and he can actually read.

But whatever, you can continue to believe it’s not real and the treatments are placebo and the glasses are to get extra time in exams if you wish.

@MrsFrankDrebin is there any decent evidence to support the claim that it is a 'real thing' though? Because the meta analysis I linked to above says the studies that show people being helped by coloured overlays, 'proper assessments', glasses etc. are poor quality and biased and that the better quality studies show overlays etc are no better than placebo. I am genuinely interested to know if there is some evidence I am missing.

@JasperTheFriendlyGhost I don't want to believe anything, I want to know the truth.

The second link you give is disingenuous at best, intentionally misleading at worst, and I'm surprised the BMJ would print it. It assesses the validity of Irlen Syndrome as an opthalmological condition, which it is not. It is a sensory difficulty.

I've not researched the clinical evidence base but I do know that the coloured overlays help countless people. If something helps someone overcome a barrier to learning, with no other rational explanation for the improvement, then it's worth pursuing further.

I have visual stress, its definitely a thing. One of the children I look after also has it. However we didnt get her tested at an Irlens specialist, it was a specialised optician though...have a Google, also a lot cheaper. He/ she will test what colour overlay works best. Makes a huge difference

Does it really matter so long as it helps a child to read?

My friend’s DD has the green specs, they work for her

There's usually a reading speed assessment done with a visual stress test, to see if an overlay makes a difference. Were there any significant time differences recorded for dd with the green one compared to other colours/no overlay?

Your SENCo should not be handing out overlays - s/he is not qualified If a child experiences text moving and blurring, they should discuss this with an optometrist to rule out other visual difficulties. There is a lot of bad research around visual stress, but overlays do seem to help some children. More research is needed.

Look, I don't begrudge anyone their overlays, but saying 'it is a thing', 'it's helped my nephew', 'it helps countless people' doesn't help, people say the same about homeopathy, which studies show only works as a placebo. I am open to having my mind changed, but would need something more concrete.

I used to work at an eye hospital - the optometrists were not convinced of the physiological basis of Irlens syndrome, and could not support filters etc (this came up a lot).

However I know that many of them wished they could provide them as some patients found them genuinely helpful, whether this was simply a placebo effect or not. Apparently a significant proportion of the benefit of even proven treatments is down to placebo, so if your daughter finds benefit from using filters, might it be worth pursuing it to some extent? Not paying a fortune, but trying some filters from Amazon?

Obviously alongside a proper diagnosis for the dyslexia.

I can't read the first paper you linked it's in Spanish. But yes, you're right the evidence base isn't very strong. If you google Arnold Wilkins, he has done a lot of research into coloured overlays. Some of the issue with the counter research is that it's not limited to children who find an improvement with the overlays.

I see a lot of children who have specific reading difficulties and find that they significantly increase reading speeds for approximately 25% of children a the initial consultation and about half of them continue to use the overlays or coloured glasses regularly. Whether all of these children have "Irlens" I don't know, some of them may just be very sensitive to glare from the paper or pattern glare from writing.

But they can and do help some children enormously, but not the majority. Senco's like them as they're cheap and easy to use.

Behavioural optometry is a real thing available on the NHS they current use blue and yellow lenses for which their is evidence. Your GP should be able to refer to behavioural optometry, but there will be a long wait.

www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/dyslexia/neurodiversity-and-co-occurring-differences/visual-difficulties

Sounds a bit woo-ish to me.

This has come up on edutwitter recently. If it’s something that can’t be diagnosed or treated by anyone except a special expensive Irlens person and there’s only dodgy evidence in favour then it does start to sound a bit homeopathy. Some people might swear by it but that doesn’t mean it works.

In my experience, the kids with the expensive coloured glasses refuse to wear them at school (secondary) so something else to bear in mind.

Yes, my daughter does use the overlays for reading, I don't mind that. Her reading is fine with or without them though. She had green pads to write on and she find writing equally difficult on green or white backgrounds. I don't think the school should be advocating spending a lot of money on expensive eye exams and glasses if studies show they don't work.

Hi OP I have this and have done all my life. When I was first diagnosed at about 10 and was given my 1st overlay it was like night and day.
I'll be honest with you the glasses are handy ( especially as I have had my reading glasses tinted) but I used overlays for years as that was all there was back then and they work just as well as the glasses just more of a faff .
Also if the school are telling you that he needs a specific colour then they must have had the assessment done already. As such what he needs is a green overlay which you can get online really cheaply not an overpriced pair of plastic glasses.

Sorry she not he

We looked for research papers and found it all a bit sparse and unconvincing -few years ago.

DD1 first primary suggested this - they did a test decide she was better with one colour which they ten didn't have any of and just gave her a red strip.

Still I was keen to try anything that might help - so tried different coloured backgrounds and overlays. The overlay strips did have big black line and we eventually concluded it was that that was helping.

We then move on to eye exercise – which again not sure they did a hell of a lot.

Think best thing was more phonic practise -and the program dancing bears that had a blue piece of card with cut out corner which meant just the word being read was visible.

As someone with Irlen's, it certainly isn't a load of rubbish.
From what I've understood, there may be a lack of research into treatment options but that doesn't mean the condition doesn't exist.
The NHS eye clinic I attend acknowledges the existence of Irlen's. It's considered a neurological rather than an eye issue I think.

Wow, some ignorance here!

It's not 'woo'. I have it!

I never actually got any overlays or anything (diagnosed at uni) but the difference between reading text printed on pure white paper, and coloured paper/older books is massive. When I am stressed/under pressure, I try and read but all I can see is bright coloured lights around the letters on the page. Changing the background/printing stuff in colour/changing to dyslexic fonts are the only things that help with this.