Sandra Steele, Educational Consultant

Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity is a visual perceptual disorder, related to light source and contrast sensitivity. For individuals with Irlen Syndrome bright and especially fluorescent lighting appears to disrupt the timing and sequence of information which the brain receives from the eye. Irlen Syndrome can prevent acquisition and/or application of reading skills so that the reading process is inefficient. Comprehension and sustained reading can be diminished.

Please take the time to complete the observation form. After evaluation of this observation form, you will be contacted with the results.

Individuals with SSS may be viewed as underachievers or as having behavior, attitude or motivational problems. This problem can coexist with other learning difficulties. Some people diagnosed with learning disabilities, dyslexia or ADD may be in addition, also suffering from SSS.

Individuals with SSS may read slowly or inefficiently or have poor reading comprehension, strain or fatigue. SSS can also affect attention span, listening, energy level, motivation and work production and mental health.

Scotopic Sensitivity/lrlen Syndrome (SSS) is a perceptual problem that prevents an estimated 10-12% of the population from being able to learn, read, or study efficiently. It remains undetected by standard educational, visual and medical tests.

Individuals with SSS perceive the printed page and sometime their environment differently. They must constantly make adaptations or compensate. Individuals may be unaware of the extra energy and effort they are putting into reading and perceiving.

IRLEN PROCESS FOR TREATMENT

The patented treatment method uses colored overlays or filters worn as lenses to reduce or eliminate the perceptual difficulties caused by Irlen Syndrome. The carefully structured screening procedure identifies the syndrome, the degree of sensitivity and results in proper combination of color to alleviate individual symptoms received.

SELF-TEST FOR IRLEN SYNDROME

Please fill out this form. Parents, complete the form in cooperation with your child.

Name:
Age:
Grade:
Phone:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:
Email:
Are you... Bothered by sunlight?	Yes No Uncertain
Bothered by glare?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you frequently wear sunglasses?	Yes No Uncertain
Bothered by bright or fluorescent lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Tired or drowsy under bright or fluorescent lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Become anxious under bright or fluorescent lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Get a headache from bright or fluorescent lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Feel antsy or fidgety under bright or fluorescent lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Harder to listen under bright or fluorescent lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Performance deteriorates under bright or fluorescent lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Feel like there is not enough light when reading?	Yes No Uncertain
Feel like there is too much light when reading?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you read in dim light?	Yes No Uncertain
Use fingers or other marker to block out part of the page?	Yes No Uncertain
Shade the page with your hand or body?	Yes No Uncertain
Skip words or lines?	Yes No Uncertain
Repeat or reread lines?	Yes No Uncertain
Read for less than one hour?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you lose place when reading?	Yes No Uncertain
Read in a “stop and go” rhythm?	Yes No Uncertain
Omit small words?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you have poor reading comprehension?	Yes No Uncertain
Does reading becomes harder as you continue?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you avoid reading?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you avoid reading for pleasure?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you reread for comprehension?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you reverse letters and/or numbers?	Yes No Uncertain
While reading or using a computer do you: Rub your eyes?	Yes No Uncertain
Move closer to or further away?	Yes No Uncertain
Squint?	Yes No Uncertain
Open your eyes wide?	Yes No Uncertain
Incorporate breaks?	Yes No Uncertain
Change positions to reduce glare?	Yes No Uncertain
Close or cover one eye?	Yes No Uncertain
Move head?	Yes No Uncertain
Read word by word?	Yes No Uncertain
Unable to speed read?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you feel strain, fatigue, tired, or have headaches when: Reading?	Yes No Uncertain
Listening?	Yes No Uncertain
Doing paper and pencil tasks?	Yes No Uncertain
Working on the computer?	Yes No Uncertain
Watching TV, movies, or live stage productions?	Yes No Uncertain
Copying material?	Yes No Uncertain
Doing math assignments?	Yes No Uncertain
Playing video games?	Yes No Uncertain
Writing long assignments?	Yes No Uncertain
Doing visually-intensive activities like needlepoint, sewing, cross stitching, crossword puzzles, woodworking, soldering, etc?	Yes No Uncertain
Working under bright or fluorescent lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Looking at stripes, patterns, bright colors, and high contrast?	Yes No Uncertain
Handwriting: Write up or down hill?	Yes No Uncertain
Unequal or no spacing between letters or words?	Yes No Uncertain
Unequal letter size?	Yes No Uncertain
Unable to write on the line?	Yes No Uncertain
Leave out words, letters, or punctuation marks?	Yes No Uncertain
Attention/Concentration: Problems concentrating with reading or writing?	Yes No Uncertain
Easily distracted when reading or writing?	Yes No Uncertain
Easily distracted when listening?	Yes No Uncertain
Easily distracted when taking tests?	Yes No Uncertain
Daydreams in class or at lectures?	Yes No Uncertain
Problems staying on task?	Yes No Uncertain
Problems starting tasks?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty with scantron answer sheets?	Yes No Uncertain
Copying: Lose place (book, chalkboard, whiteboard, overhead)?	Yes No Uncertain
Leave out words (book, chalkboard, whiteboard, overhead)?	Yes No Uncertain
Slow (book, chalkboard, whiteboard, overhead)?	Yes No Uncertain
Incomplete (book, chalkboard, whiteboard, overhead)?	Yes No Uncertain
Careless errors (book, chalkboard, whiteboard, overhead)?	Yes No Uncertain
Blink or squint (book, chalkboard, whiteboard, overhead)?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty refocusing?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty copying things onto or off computer or typewriter?	Yes No Uncertain
Composition/Essay Writing: Disorganized?	Yes No Uncertain
Problems with punctuation?	Yes No Uncertain
Problems proofreading?	Yes No Uncertain
Leave out letters or words?	Yes No Uncertain
Write without rereading?	Yes No Uncertain
Mathematics: Misalign digits in number columns?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty seeing numbers in the correct column?	Yes No Uncertain
Sloppy or careless errors?	Yes No Uncertain
Use finger, graph paper, or other marker when working with columns of numbers?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty seeing signs, symbols, numbers, decimal points?	Yes No Uncertain
Reversals of numbers?	Yes No Uncertain
Music: Problems sight reading the notes?	Yes No Uncertain
Prefer to memorize rather than read music?	Yes No Uncertain
Prefer to play by ear?	Yes No Uncertain
Use finger to track notes?	Yes No Uncertain
Lose your place?	Yes No Uncertain
Trouble reading the notes or notes and words together?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty interpreting the music notations?	Yes No Uncertain
Little progress in spite of regular practice?	Yes No Uncertain
Depth Perception: Difficulty getting on and off escalators?	Yes No Uncertain
Clumsy?	Yes No Uncertain
Bump into table edges or door jams?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty walking up and/or down stairs?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty judging distances?	Yes No Uncertain
Drop or knock things over?	Yes No Uncertain
As a child, accident prone or have bruises on your shins?	Yes No Uncertain
When walking next to someone, do you drift into the person?	Yes No Uncertain
When walking, do you feel dizzy or light headed?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty getting on or off moving objects?	Yes No Uncertain
Driving: Difficulty parallel parking?	Yes No Uncertain
Do you feel like you will hit the car in front when parking?	Yes No Uncertain
When parking, do you hit the curb or leave too much space?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty judging when to turn in front of oncoming traffic?	Yes No Uncertain
Uncertain about making lane changes?	Yes No Uncertain
Extra cautious when making lane changes?	Yes No Uncertain
Are the passengers tense when you make lane changes?	Yes No Uncertain
Do passengers tell you that you tailgate?	Yes No Uncertain
Are you overly cautious, leaving extra room between you and the car ahead?	Yes No Uncertain
Sports Performance: Problems tracking a flying ball like golf, baseball, or tennis?	Yes No Uncertain
Trouble following the ball when watching sports on TV such as tennis, football or basketball?	Yes No Uncertain
When watching sports on TV, can you follow the ball but not see anything else?	Yes No Uncertain
Trouble catching or hitting a ball?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty playing pool?	Yes No Uncertain
Difficulty hitting the ball when playing baseball or tennis?	Yes No Uncertain
Trouble learning how to ride a bike?	Yes No Uncertain
Trouble jumping rope? Jump in at the wrong time or jump into the rope?	Yes No Uncertain
Trouble playing games such as volley ball or four square on playground equipment such as rings or bars, was it hard to go from one to the other?	Yes No Uncertain
Fatigue While In A Car: As a passenger, do you become drowsy?	Yes No Uncertain
When driving, do you become drowsy?	Yes No Uncertain
Bothered by glare on the chrome on cars?	Yes No Uncertain
Bothered by glare off the rear window of the car in front of you?	Yes No Uncertain
Bothered by headlights and street lights at night?	Yes No Uncertain
Avoid driving at night?	Yes No Uncertain
Have night blindness?	Yes No Uncertain
Bothered by red tail lights on cars?	Yes No Uncertain
Bothered by red stop lights?	Yes No Uncertain
Stressful to drive in the rain (glare)?	Yes No Uncertain

If you answered yes to three or more of these questions in any of the above sections, then you might be experiencing the effects of a perception problem called Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity.