Sandra Steele, Educational Consultant

Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity is not Diagnosed Only for Adolescents...

Sandra Steele, M. Ed., LPC
Certified Scotopic Screener
Educational Consultant

There are millions of individuals (all ages) who are not efficient readers. A new breakthrough for many of these individuals has been the discovery of a perceptual problem that prevents an estimated 10 to 12 percent of the population from learning and reading efficiently. Until now Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS) has baffled educators and the scientific community because it remains undetected by standard educational, visual and medical tests. SSS makes the reader have to adapt constantly to distortions on the printed page of a book. This constant adjusting causes strain, fatigue and slower reading rate and poor reading comprehension.

What are Symptoms?

Light sensitivity: bothered by glare, fluorescent lights, sunlight or headlights at night—discomfort or difficulty concentrating while working under bright lights, especially fluorescent lights.
Strain and fatigue: reading or other visual activities, cause strain, tension, fatigue, sleepiness and/or headaches.
Inefficient rereading: difficulty reading print, numbers or musical notes or words in groups--this results in difficulty with tracking, correctly identifying words, skimming or speed reading.
Attention Deficit: problems concentrating while reading or doing paper/pen tasks--difficulty staying task, becoming restless, fidgety, tired or needing to look away or take breaks.
Poor depth perception: inability to accurately judge distance or spatial relationships--may have difficulty with such things or escalators, stairs, ball sports or driving.

These perceptual problems can be reduced or eliminated through the Irlen Method which is a reading based assessment that diagnoses the one problem that determines the best colored-filtered overlay to be used by the reader. This is one strategy among many to help individuals overcome reading problems. Many children and adults HAVE FOUND RAPID AND SIGNIFICANT HELP THROUGH THE USE OF THE Irlen colored overlays when they read.