The children who benefit may be good readers, but more often they have difficulty reading. They usually suffer visual discomfort when reading and, when questioned, will often report perceptual distortions of the text. These distortions usually include apparent movement or blurring of the letters and words. Often there is a family history of migraine.

When tested a second time, individuals may sometimes choose a different colour, but it is usually a similar colour. The choice of colour may appear random, but it is not! The use of Irlen Colored Overlays and filters may provide the fighting chance many at-risk readers deserve.” In our view, children should be free to wear the glasses if they find it helpful to do so, but not encouraged to wear them if they would not otherwise do so. The response to colour is subjective and individual, and the wearer is the best person to judge whether there is any benefit.The term Meares-lrlen syndrome is sometimes used to refer to the collection of symptoms and signs of visual fatigue when reading that are reduced when colour is used. Other terms are Irlen syndrome or Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS)1. (The syndrome is not yet widely recognised by the medical and scientific communities, and there is no universal agreement on its name.) The symptoms of visual perceptual distortion in children with reading difficulty were first described by Olive Meares2, but have been listed by Helen Irlen, as follows. Yes. Although some people seem to 'grow out' of the condition, many do not. The distortions may be less pronounced when reading becomes fluent and text ceases to be a meaningless collection of confusing shapes. Sadly, visual perceptual distortion is often not recognised in children and many sufferers enter adulthood without ever having been treated. The examiner should listen to the client’s description of the distortions, and use this description when trying to decide whether a particular colour reduces the distortions.

It is essential to realise that the appropriate colour for use in glasses is not the same as that in overlays. For example, a child may choose a yellow overlay and benefit from blue lenses. The colour of the lenses can only be assessed by optometrists or orthoptists who use the Intuitive Colorimeter ®, or by the use of a very large number of coloured trial lenses. Other methods of selecting coloured lenses may be less likely to select the optimal colour. 24. Why are glasses a different colour from overlays? Some orthoptic departments may also undertake coloured overlay testing. A few have an Intuitive Colorimeter. It seems that children benefit most from colour if it is offered as soon as any reading difficulty is suspected, before the cycle of failure has begun. Many 7 year-olds appear to use coloured overlays for a year or two and then discard them as unnecessary. This may be because the acquired familiarity with text makes the distortion less distracting.How can I find an optometrist or orthoptist who has specialised in reading difficulties? Optometrists (previously called ophthalmic opticians) can be found in most town centre's. Optometrists examine eyes to assess their health and to determine whether glasses or eye exercises are needed. A small but growing number of optometrists have specialised in assessing people who have reading difficulties. If you or someone in your family already sees an optometrist then ask them if they know of a local colleague who has specialised in reading difficulties.

Our 10 scientifically selected colours; can be combined to make 30 tints equally around the colour spectrum If, on the other hand, the response to overlays is less marked, it seems sensible to see whether the child continues to use overlays without prompting for, say, a school term or longer, before considering coloured glasses. Coloured glasses are more expensive than overlays, and it may be wise to wait before incurring the cost. The children who benefit may be good readers, but more often they have difficulty reading. They usually suffer visual discomfort when reading and, when questioned, will often report perceptual distortions of the text. These distortions usually include apparent movement or blurring of the letters and words. Often there is a family history of migraine. 13. Does visual perceptual distortion relate directly to learning difficulties, or dyslexia?The Reading Teacher. William Henk, Ed.D, Associate Professor of Education and Reading Pennsylvania State University. Colored Overlays Work One side of the overlay has a matt coating. Some matt coatings can reduce transparency, but coloured overlays from Crossbow Education have been subjected to stringent testing to ensure that maximum print clarity is retained while reflected light from the overlay surface has been significantly reduced. Nevertheless, some people prefer using the gloss side of the overlay. Lightstone, A., Lightstone, T. and Wilkins, A.J. (1999). Both coloured overlays and coloured lenses can improve reading fluency, but their optimal chromaticities differ. Just as some colours are reported as being beneficial, others are often reported to be uncomfortable. Individuals sometimes show a marked aversion to these uncomfortable colours. Provided the appropriate colour is chosen, it seems unlikely that overlays can have any detrimental effect. The possible long-term effects of wearing coloured glasses are unknown at present. 19. Should coloured glasses be worn all the time? An optometrist (previously known as an ophthalmic optician) will report 'perfect eye sight' when someone can see a letter chart without needing refractive correction (glasses), and when there are no (orthoptic) problems of co-ordination between the eyes. The perceptual distortions may occur quite independently of any refractive error, although they are often, but not always, associated with a mild binocular vision difficulty (i.e. a difficulty in moving the eyes together, keeping the direction of gaze appropriately co-ordinated). In most cases the binocular difficulties do not appear to be the basis for the distortions.

After 3 months of using Irlen Colored Overlays, students demonstrated significant improvement in reading achievement with gains between 1 year 8 months to 2 years 8 months.” Children sometimes seem to change their preferred colour. The precise reason for this is not known.Coloured overlays and coloured glasses can increase the speed of reading, although with conventional text the improvement may only be apparent after ten minutes continuous reading when the child would begin to tire were an overlay not used.3 If the text is closely spaced, the benefit is more immediate. Children who persist in using their overlay usually find coloured glasses more convenient to use. Glasses can help with writing, whereas overlays cannot. The degree of precision in the choice of colour is critical for obtaining the best results, and the precision available with lenses is far greater than with overlays. Perhaps for this reason glasses often give better results. 23. Are glasses the same colour as overlays? Colored overlays are most effective for individuals whose difficulties are isolated to reading. If you experience challenges with writing, math, depth perception, night driving, or the environment, colored filters (worn as glasses) will be your best treatment option. However, colored overlays are an important first step in determining whether the Irlen Method can work for you and provide your first experience with relief. The best way to know whether using a blue overlay for reading (or some other color) could help make reading easier and more comfortable for you is to start with a self-test. Sometimes called a scotopic sensitivity syndrome test, our self-test will let you know if the issues you are experiencing are related to the specific type of visual processing problem that colored overlays can help. Remember, colored overlays for reading are not a solution for all reading problems, only those that are caused by the brain’s inability to process light efficiently. Colored Overlays for Dyslexia Our research has shown an immediate and significant increase in reading speed using colored overlays.”