Irlen syndrome. Any one know anything about this?

I use a coloured film overlay when I read books, and I have my kindle set up in blue shade mode with a colour tint. This helps hugely with my dyslexia.  Husband was looking for a new overlay for me and found some stuff on Irlen syndrome so I wondered if any of you knew anything about it? Positive or negative.

  • Those are from pretty old sources.

    There has been a lot more research done than the 5 studies cited.

    Here's a more in depth article from the British Medical Journal. It is by a representative from the Irlen organisation but there are a lot more sources cited, some more recent.

    https://www.bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g4872/rr/761729

    I'm not understanding what you are saying though. Coloured overlays work but they are placebos or that your experience with them will be the same as everyone else's. My experience was that the specific colour was the cause of the contrast problems and additional problems.

    There are charlatans out there like the optician in Ayr. I'd say to go to a proper center to anyone. I'm not knocking your scepticism, it is healthy to be critical. I hate spending money. I did ask around extensively and read up on it before I made a decision. Some people can find their own way around it though, such as yourself. I wish I had myself!

  • I'm a big proponent of critical thinking so would suggest you take a look at this link:

    https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/irlen-syndrome/

    I have severe visual issues which make text and anything with high contrast, or close parallel lines "jazz" in front of me.  There is no doubt that tinted glasses or using coloured backgrounds on my device reader help enormously but my conclusion is that they do so by reducing contrast.  The choice of colour I feel is more aesthetic than anything else.

    I also would suggest having a look at this story which refers to a local optician who was struck off over this:

    http://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/16083145.Ayr_optician_is_struck_off_over____experimental____autism_work/

    Again, please don't think I am saying that coloured overlays or lenses don't help.  They do.  It's just that there is no science behind expensive prescriptions of particular colours.

  • I didn't get my screening done at Specsavers, I can't say how good their screening is just to make things clear. My process was similar to yours. Specsavers did make a mess of my lens fitting though. 

  • I got my first pair and took them to Specsavers to be done within the hour. They did it within the hour and they made a right mess of them! Glad to hear Vision Express were better! I took my second set of lenses to a more competent optician!

    Glad to hear your wife is finding it beneficial. I'm not one to fall for the snakeoil cures. I do find it beneficial. I too get more tired without them on. It's mainly because I have to concentrate more.

  • And in case you wondered about the process, this is what it was for us:

    'Phone someone up to come for a home visit (she's about 2 miles down the road), get diagnosed and get the correct tint (all of this is done in the initial assessment), pay for the assessment and lenses, wait 6 weeks for the lenses to ship from America, take them into Vision Express, choose some frames and ask them to put the lenses into the frames, wait a couple of weeks for them to be sent off and arrive back. Our local Vision Express did used to cut the lenses themselves but now this is apparently done centrally.

  • My wife has this. We had a local lady come out and assess her (with a big case of different coloured lenses) and she's been wearing the tinted glasses for about 6 years now. She says they help her concentrate as it reduces the light for her; she has dyslexia.

    We had the lady come out a few years later and tested one of my children, and said they had it too. When I told his teacher (who was also the SEN co-ordinator for the school) she pretty much laughed in our faces and said that, since you pay them for the assessment and the lenses, they'll say everyone has it.

    But, my wife gets benefit from it. You can tell when she's not wearing her glasses because she gets tired quickly - it's actually noticable - like her brain is fogged up or something, and she starts squinting and loses concentration with whatever she's talking about. When the light is reduced, she returns to normal. And it helps stabilise the letters when she's reading. She can definitely concentrate better with them on.

    I wouldn't recommend something if I didn't think it would help. My wife isn't the sort of person who would say it worked just because she wanted it to work. You can tell the difference when she's not wearing them.

    There's a list of UK places that do it here.

  • [swear word deleted by Heather- Mod] That sounds dodgy! Like a rabbithole designed to suck you in!

    When I had my screening I had to go through a pretty long test. I had to look through lots of different coloured lenses, then find a saturation of each colour to build up the filter. Then I looked at different objects, pieces of text on different backgrounds, looking at things in different lights and a lot of other things until the lenses were built up. After the test I was given a quote and no obligations.

    I'm not putting any software on my computer let alone paying for it if there was no guarantee it would work!

  • Specsavers do Irlens screenings too? Glad to hear you didn't have to pay. It has helped me quite a bit. Did you find it much help?

  • I have Irlen's as well as ASC. I was diagnosed by a specialist at a Specsavers opticians. I was a uni student at the time so the DSA paid for my assessment.

  • When I did a search it came up with an American website. You can answer a bunch of questions on an online form (one of them was about autism), and, for $28, they will send you a report telling you whether you should purchase (for more money) their software which I suppose tints your computer screen to make it easier to read. I have no doubt it will tell everyone to purchase the software.

  • Wait, sorry I read that wrong! They don't actually test you in person? I wouldn't trust that!

  • There are a lot of scam sites out there. If you use an official screening centre they are not allowed to charge an excessive amount because they are regulated. I heard of one person paying £900! The NHS will only send people to a proper centre.

  • I selected the colour myself, but used an online test that's easy to replicate. Basically just the same sentence written on all different coloured backgrounds, and you see which is easiest to read.

    I was skeptical but there was one colour, purple, that was significantly easier for me. When I asked my NT husband to try, he couldn't see any difference between colours, which was enough of a confirmation for me to try it. So I ordered glasses with the purple tint and they immediately made a huge difference to my life, reducing meltdowns, shutdowns and confusion. I've used them ever since. The actual shade of purple doesn't have to be too specific - I have glasses in a few shades - but it does have to be purple. No other colour makes a difference. 

  • Yes, I had an Irlen Screening after hearing Paddy Considine talking about how the filters helped him. The symptoms he described sounded familiar, especially about flourescent lights.

    www.independent.co.uk/.../paddy-considine-irlen-syndrome-diagnosis-has-helped-me-become-a-better-actor-9734252.html

    I asked my GP about it and he was sceptical. I spoke to the people at my Autism center and they were less sceptical. Apperently it is more prevelant in ASD people.There were 3 people who had reported a big difference when wearing filters. One guy wrote me a nice long summary of his experiences and the cost, he was a surgeon with ASD. So going by the people who had said it was beneficial I decided to have a screening.

    In the screening they hold a different coloured tint in front of your eye and test how you see certain things. They'll add more colours until you feel that your sight is in the best shade built up from all the filters. I didn't realise it but I saw a halo around solid red and green objects. Textures and patterns disappeared that were basically things that weren't real. I stood under a flourescent light for far longer that usual with less discomfort. My synesthesia was less dominant. It really did have an effect. I decided to get the filters. They are a sort of dark orangey amber. You might have any colour lens according to the way your eye processes colour.

    If you do have the lenses made make sure you have the largest frame type you can find, to cover as much as your eyesight as possible. I had a pair which were smaller but I barely use them because they don't cover enough of my eyesight. With my other lenses I got them put into larger pair of frames. So things like aviator style glasses, larger clubmasters, and square framed glasses. I just find I got more out of the larger frames. They look pretty good imo too!

    Some NHS trusts will pay for your lenses and screening. Devon, Humberside and parts of the North West do offer it. I'd do a bit of enquiring because it can be pricey.

    Last but not least use a certified Irlen centre. I've seen prices at some places that are not certified that are exorbitant, also they don't use official Mears Irlen lab lenses.

    http://www.irlenuk.com/centres.htm

    If you have any more questions feel free to ask!

  • I use a yellow over lay and my kindle is tinted to yellow .Did you chose your colour  your self or did you see someone?

    We chose the overlay  20 ish years ago it was the best one to stop the words wavering and blurring. But I don't know if it would be different with a bigger set to choose between, there were only 4 choices when we tried them.

  • I know already that overlays work for me for reading, so when my husband found this stuff about the glasses he thought that they they might help.

  • The Irlen Syndrome stuff on the web seems like a scam to me. They charge you $28 for a report that will tell you whether you can use tinted overlays and whatnot, without actually providing any of the overlays (you would have to pay more for those).

    Glasses or overlays may well work for some people, but I'd stay away from websites that will sell them for an arm and a leg. You should be able to figure out on your own whether they work for you or not.

  • I use tinted glasses to help me to cope with light sensitivity. In my case, the colour is a shade of purple.