Tinted glasses for Irlen's syndrome (how much difference do they make?)

[teamcullen]

My 7 year old was diagnosed with Irlen's syndrome earlier this year, and was reccomended to use a turquoise overlay to help with his reading. However, I was wondering whether to get him further tested to see if he needs the tinted glasses.

He seems to really have to concentrate when doing his work, so dosent produce much although his teacher says the content is good. However this leaves him exhausted. He is also quite clumsy, forever tripping up and knocking things over.

Looking at the Irlen's web site, there are lots of indications that Irlen's effects my son in every day life which, before I hadnt connected to Irlen's.

So, has anybody used the tinted glasses themselves or for their children? Do they make much difference? Most importantly, do they make life easier?

[smee]

Sjbew, I don't think it's just psychology at all. My son wears coloured lenses. He couldn't read the white board before and when reading text words flew all over the place. He's still wearing his 2 years on from getting them. He simply can't see black text on white without them.

I was sceptical at first, but at the first filter test they asked him to read a paragraph of random words with his chosen filter against the clock for a minute. With the filter he read 98% of the words and made just two mistakes. He then read the same words without the filter and only managed 65% of the words and made lots of mistakes, including skipping whole lines. To see that sort of evidence in front of your eyes was proof enough for me!

[terry2014]

Hi, I had to get involved with this. I'm a 25 year old teacher who was diagnosed with MI at university after I couldn't keep up with the reading. I was an A* student at school but was never picked up, despite teachers seeing me reading through a blue maths ruler.

The glasses make ALL the difference. I couldn't see the moss growing on rooftiles or the patterns in bark until I wore my lenses. My headaches are much less frequent and I can think more logically (strange as that may seem!). I don't drop things as much and I can read pretty much endlessly.

Dyslexic or not, those with MI suffer needlessly when there is such a simple solution. Both sisters have it, as does my dad, and it's also linked to a migraine gene.

DEFINITELY worth the money for screening and lenses. In fact when I was at university I was paying for yearly screening and lenses and colour preferences do change.

Skeptics - I haven't written this to troll you. MI is so easy to live with if you have the right support!

[Hayes1]

I prefer the term visual dyslexia. After regular eye problems are eliminated as causal or corrected, reading problems caused by difficulty seeing words easily and without stress can usually be described by the individual. Described visual problems that make reading difficult and/or uncomfortable need a visual intervention. Dyslexics generally have no visual issues and normally report seeing text fine , no visual intervention needed. See Right Dyslexia Glasses are universal visual dyslexia glasses made from complex optical filter glass that remove described visual problems and physical discomfort from reading. Because the filtering properties are uniform in the glass rather than from a coating they stay effective over time. The reason Irlen lenses become ineffective over time is because the tint coatings fade not because of any mystical eye or brain changes.See Right Dyslexia Glasses can be purchased over the web because the need for a personal evaluation has been eliminated.

[bizzibee1]

irlen support group Channel Islands is an amazing place to find information on facebook or google irlen .com

[malcolmp9]

I recently sat through a 3.5 hour test with my grandson for Irlens.
As the test progressed to lens testing with 4 different coloured lenses put together I nearly cried to see my 13yr old grandsons face light up because he was able to see and read like never before.
Don't let anyone say Irlens doesn't exist I've sat and watched something I didn't think was possible,we as a family have spent several years trying to find out why he had his problems.
I'm very grateful to have a daughter who is a specialist teacher in cognition and learning who set us on the right track and to the teacher who agreed with us and got him initially tested at school.
We then decided to get the full test done which is expensive as are the glasses but worth every penny.