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Coloured
lenses have been shown to benefit those
with dyslexia, headaches, migraine, and
photosensitive epilepsy.
We can
supply you with your personally
optimised coloured prescription lenses.
Our practice is situated in the centre
of Loughton in South East Essex.

HISTORY - The Origins of Scotopic
Sensitivity, Meares-Irlen Syndrome:
In the early 1980s, a teacher in New Zealand, Olive Meares,
was the first to provide a detailed
written account of the spatial
distortions affecting text being read,
by some individuals. Olive Meares also
reported that the effects she cited
could be reduced or eliminated by the
use of coloured paper or by using
coloured plastic overlays. The overlay
being placed over the text to be read.
A
psychologist working in California,
Helen Irlen, wrote a paper describing
symptoms similar to Olive Meares. Ms
Irlen, named the effects as Scotopic
Sensitivity or Irlen Syndrome. The
syndrome was one in which reading is
impeded by distortions of print. She
reported that the distortions were
positively effected if text was viewed
through a coloured filter or overlay.
Ms Irlen went further and established a
protocol for screening for scotopic
sensitivity and a system for dispensing
coloured overlays as a result of the
assessment.
There
followed a period of time during which
the scientific community discussed these
findings with a great deal of
scepticism. The problem being that there
was no satisfactory explanation as to
why the treatment of visual distortion
of text with coloured overlays should
work. Of course this did not mean that
it did not work. In fact medicine is
littered with examples of treatments
working first followed by an
understanding of why much later.
Reports
of benefit from colour came to the
attention of Dr Arnold Wilkins of the
Medical Research Council. Concerned that
the benefit was a placebo effect, he
recognised that if colour potentially
gave benefit, the colour needed to be
selected with precision and with the
three aspects of colour, hue, saturation
and brightness independent of one
another. To allow this selection he
invented what is today the intuitive
Colorimeter and used this instrument to
carry out scientific research.
Prof.
Wilkins and colleagues of Essex
University were amongst the first to
apply scientific rigor to the study of
scotopic sensitivity or Meares-Irlen
Syndrome, as it had become known. The
Essex University team set up double
blind placebo controlled trials and went
on to establish a number of tools for
screening for scotopic sensitivity and
quantifying the effects of coloured
overlays.

The
screening test is available to
professionals and is know as the
Intuitive Overlays Test. Whilst the
tool used to quantify the effects of
overlays is also available to
professionals and is known as the
Wilkins rate of reading test.
In the
past assessment for scotopic sensitivity
was generally done by the Irlen
Institute. It was quite an expensive
assessment and the overlays were also
relatively expensive. Now the Intuitive
Overlays Test combined with the Wilkins
rate of reading test has enabled
practitioners who have been trained by
the Institute of Optometrists to carry
out an assessment and prescribe an
overlay for use when reading. This has
rolled out the number of professionals
who have these assessment skills and
made the assessment and prescription of
suitable overlays very much more
affordable.

If you or
your child is experiencing visual
effects such as thus cited above: text
wobbling, moving, flickering, blocking
out, underlining, halo effects, head
aches, a feeling of over brightness then
it would be useful to have an assessment
in this regard.
The Irlen
Method has helped children and adults
worldwide become successful rather than
continue to experience enormous
difficulties. In addition to dyslexia,
patients with headaches, migraine and
photosensitive epilepsy may benefit.
This method has received international
acclaim and Helen Irlen’s work has been
included in professional journals,
textbooks, National Geographic, TV shows
such as 60 Minutes and Good Morning
America, ABC World News With Peter
Jennings, NBC News and has been the
subject of many news broadcasts by the
BBC and news shows in Ireland, Hong
Kong, Netherlands, New Zealand, and
Australia including their 60 Minutes.

The Irlen
Method provides a unique service for
children and adults with reading,
attention, and learning difficulties.
But even good readers and gifted
students can be helped. At least two
million Americans are identified as
learning disabled. Many more are labeled
as "not trying hard enough" at school
for a variety of reasons, including lack
of motivation, attention deficit
disorder, reading problems, or
discipline problems.
Irlen
Syndrome, also known as, Scotopic
Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS) is a type of
visual perceptual problem. It is not an
optical problem. It is a problem with
how the nervous system encodes and
decodes visual information. Academic and
work performance, behaviour, attention,
ability to sit still and concentration
can be affected. Individuals with this
problem see the printed page
differently, although they may not
realize that they do. Having Irlen
Syndrome keeps many people from reading
effectively, efficiently, or even at
all.

Individuals with Irlen Syndrome see the
printed page differently from those with
normal vision and must constantly adapt
to distortions appearing on the printed
page. They may be slow or inefficient
readers, exhibit poor comprehension,
suffer from strain, fatigue or
headaches. It can affect their
attention-span, energy-level,
motivation, handwriting,
depth-perception and, ultimately,
self-esteem. Irlen syndrome sufferers
may be labelled as underachievers with
behavioural, attitudinal, or
motivational problems. It is a complex
and variable condition sometimes found
to co-exist with other
learning-disabilities.
What is Visual
Stress?
Visual
Stress is a visual perception problem
which makes it difficult for affected
individuals to see text clearly. The
contrast between black text on a white
background makes the letters appear
jumbled, animated or blurred. It has
been estimated that 11% of the
population are affected. Some children
initially thought to be dyslexic may be
suffering from just Visual Stress.
The
classic symptoms are:-
-
Words are moving around the
page.
-
When I read I get a
headache.
-
The words are blurred
-
The page is too bright and I
cannot see the words
clearly.
Look out
for:-

Children
who are unaware that they have Visual
Stress may come to believe that they
must be stupid or slow as they fall
below the reading standards of their
friends and classmates. This can lead to
frustration and lead to disruptive
behaviour.
It is
extremely important that Visual Stress
is diagnosed as early as possible. Some
people experience visual stress when
viewing text for long periods. The
symptoms vary from person to person, but
can include headaches and migraines
(especially when working at the
computer), eyestrain, and experiencing
instability of print when viewing text.
Visual
Stress can also cause eyestrain and
headaches in both adults and children
and the non-drug treatment may be
effective.
Often
these symptoms can be alleviated through
changing the background colour on which
the text is superimposed. Where colour
is proven to be beneficial, the
condition is termed Meares-Irlen
Syndrome.
Coloured Lenses - The Solution for
Visual Stress
Scientific research has shown that a
specific and individual colour, worn as
precision tinted lenses, will relieve
the symptoms of Visual Stress and allow
more fluent, efficient and comfortable
reading.
Overlays
may be used for screening prior to full
testing.
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Coloured Overlays. |
The
specific colour is selected following a
full eye examination by testing with an
instrument called the Intuitive
Colorimeter. The Intuitive Colorimeter
was designed and developed by Scientists
of the Applied Psychology Unit at the
Medical Research Council.
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The
Intuitive Colorimeter with the
trial tinted filters. |
Each
individual's optimum colour will be
different and likely to involve a
combination of tints.
The
Intuitive Colorimeter is a simple
optical device that shines coloured
light on a page of text and allows the
user to vary the light with three
controls, one for colour (hue), one for
strength of colour (saturation) and one
for brightness (luminance). The
variation of hue and saturation is
continuous. Luminance may be selected
from one of four levels. Once the best
combination of tints has been determined
the Colorimeter findings are introduced
into a computer program to ascertain the
precision tinted glasses for reading.
Children often describe the resulting clarity as
"magical".
For
patients who are prescribed Precision
Tinted lenses the exact colour of tint
that is required can, like any other
optical prescription, change over time.
Therefore, we recommend testing with the
Intuitive Colorimeter at yearly
intervals.
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Children with the Intuitive
Colorimeter |
"The
Intuitive Colorimeter and Precision
Tints have become a key instrument for
optometrists who care for people with
learning disabilities."
Professor Bruce Evans BSc (Hons) PhD
FCOptom DipCLP DipOrth FAAO -
Author of 'Vision & Dyslexia'
This site is run
by Simone Viniker, an Optometrist,
based on the London / Essex border.
Simone trained at
City University, London, Moorfields
Eye Hospital, London and the London
Institute of Optometry. She
practices in Woodford Green and Loughton, Essex where she
provides specialist treatment to
promote dyslexic training and
educational development with
coloured overlays and precision
coloured lenses using the Intuitive
Colorimeter.
She also now
provides, from both practices, a new system (called Go With
The Gobbies) which is aimed at the
younger age-group to aid those with
dyslexia and visual stress. Clinical
trials have found that the eye
tracking technique used in this
system can be beneficial in aiding
those with MS and ME.
20th March 2008:-
"With the news headlines breaking
today regarding over 2 million
children between the ages of 7 to 11
years likely to be suffering from a
learning disorder, mainly dyslexia,
dyspraxia and dyscalculia of which
only 76000 have been identified, we
ask who can identify these children,
who is in the best position in the
primary health care chain to monitor
them and who could provide visual
development and training when
required.
The obvious answer must be the
Optometrist and his team of
professionals. So how come
Optometrists have not
whole-heartedly provided this help
and assurance to these children that
are their future patients for life.
Whilst dyslexia is not related to
poor vision one would have expected
the Optician to be the first port of
call for many worried parents.
So is the
profession up to the challenge, is
BABO (a group of behavioural
optometrists) providing the
necessary commitment and could our
contributor from
Go with The
Gobbies,
be offering a simple solution that
could be used easily in practice...
As responsible primary health care
providers opticians must advertise
their value and experience in
providing free children’s eye care."
http://www.primaryhealthnet.com/phnsubcontent.asp?id=9&subid=93
Primary Health Net Ltd, Jasmine
House, 55 Jasmine Grove, London SE20
8JY T: 020 8776 5000
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