Dyslexia, Brain, ADD and Irlen Syndrome: Scotopic Sensitivity Case Report

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ADD Diagnostics:
SPECT findings of ADD were confirmed by psychological testing – but Irlen Syndrome findings arise only from a careful history. And the treatment? – Colored glasses… read on. 

Presenting problems with a recent SPECT review of an accomplished professional [with significant occupational reading requirements] included severe dyslexia, ADD and depression.

We could see and report the ADD and depression findings easily on SPECT scans, and those symptoms were present in the history from youth. Stimulant and antidepressant medications had helped, and presenting symptoms significantly improved as a result of a number of interventions, – including a gluten free diet recommended by our nutritionist colleague Kelly Dorfman. Neuropsychological testing by our colleague Bill Stixrud, PhD, confirmed dyslexia and ADD.

But severe dyslexic symptoms persisted, are not specifically discernible on SPECT, and included:

  1. The feeling of having to force concentration to keep the eyes on the words.
  2. Bilateral vision and depth perception issues only overcome by closing one eye.
  3. Frequent headaches with reading.
  4. Distractability.

Let's see, do any of these match with the Irlen symptom picture reported by Education Specialist Sue Watson below?

  • Complains of eye strain while reading
  • Tires while reading
  • Depth perception is much weaker
  • Will also affect math performance
  • Often exhibits sensitivity to lights especially fluorescent types
  • Trouble focusing
  • Weak/poor comprehension
  • Difficulty tracking words on a line and will often skip words
  • Reads in a strained word by word fashion and with great hesitancy
  • Avoids reading
  • Weaker written work
  • Trouble copying
  • Random spacing
  • Random letter sizes
  • Writing up or downhill
  • Inconsistent spelling

Also take a look at these distortion effects to see Irlen in visual action. And if you have concerns about someone you know, here is a link for individuals who can test for and prescribe lenses for Irlen Syndrome.

I have made this diagnosis with several difficult children and adults, and the corrective, yes colored glasses, have proven remarkably successful. Results may vary, but Irlen Syndrome is more than a belief system.

Check out these numerous references for further information.

9 Comments

  1. Dr Charles Parker says:
    April 20, 2008 at 9:27 AM

    Thanks so much Ghotit for the linked comments and the interesting spell check features for those suffering with dyslexia. -Strongly recommend readers with dyslexia, or those treating/teaching individuals with dyslexia try out the Ghotit site:

    http://www.ghotit.com

    -for a remarkable and phonetic spell check tool, even useful for those with English as a new second language.
    Thanks,
    cp

  2. Ghotit says:
    April 18, 2008 at 4:00 PM

    Ghotit offers unique writing and reading online services for people who suffer from dyslexia, dysgraphia or people who are not native-English speakers. Ghotit’s first service is an online context sensitive spell checker.

    Ghotit received great bloggers users report:

    Bloggers:

    http://blog.buzvia.com/site-review-ghotit-co-spell-checker-service
    http://speedchange.blogspot.com/2008/02/ghotit.html

    Users comments:
    • My god I have been look for this for all-my life, help that understands me. I write with a dictionary and thesaurus and some times cant even find the word looking for. I could not hold back the tears from the emotion then when I worked out how helpful this spellchecker will be for me.
    • i really like it and i’m so glad i found it!! it will really help with my homework etc and my teachers wont get angry at me annymore!!
    • Thank you for contacting us with your product. I tinkered with the spell checker for sometime this morning, entering common mistakes that our dyslexic students (and ADD) students make in spelling. I must say that I am extremely impressed with your product and would certainly like to further evaluate it with our students over the next several weeks.
    • that spell checker is SO good, its actually waaay better than microsoft because it tells you the reasen why you are usuing the correct word. i really like it, its really good!!

  3. Dr Charles Parker says:
    March 12, 2008 at 6:06 AM

    Daphne-
    Sure can remain a problem, even if ADD is treated, – is often, but not always, associated with ADD, and does need separate testing and different intervention strategies.

    I have a great neuropsychologist here in Va Beach for that kind of specialized testing – look forward to our next conversation.
    cp

  4. Daphne D.Houck says:
    March 12, 2008 at 1:41 AM

    Dear Dr. Parker ~
    I had my first visit with you today and had to check out this site. Does dyslexia always show up with Adult ADD? While being a proof reader is tedious enough, that would make it even more difficult. Though I’ve never had an eye doctor mention anything about dyslexia, I definitely have focusing problems. My glasses are only 2 years old. Are there specific tests for the disorder? Can you have this and not even realize it as with ADD?

  5. Dr Charles Parker says:
    February 12, 2008 at 2:08 AM

    Gina et al,
    Had some off line communication with John regarding the history of other Dyslexia Glasses [comments below], have looked at his website, and am interested, as others likely are about
    what-works-best-and-how. Next project is to sort out the history of these interesting applications and line up the benefits from a patient perspective… sounds like time to set up a poll… perhaps this weekend!

    Also Gina, do you want a note here for your website?
    Thanks for you comments!
    Chuck

  6. Jann Snyder says:
    February 11, 2008 at 2:21 PM

    Dear Dr. Parker,

    10 years or so ago I had my daughter checked for what was then called Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome. She did need the Irlen lenses and said that after she got them she could read for the first time for more than 10 minutes without getting a headache. (The doctor informally tested me at the same time; it turned out that the lenses did not work for me; however, using one of the colored overlays did make a difference: for the first time I saw a flat page! I had not realized that I saw the words on the page in “3-D” until that moment!)

    Unfortunately, when my daughter needed new lenses, the doctor was no longer available. And I found that using an overlay every time I read was just too cumbersome to continue.

    I did, however, read a good bit about SSS at the time. As I recall all schoolchildren in Australia were required to be tested, due to the fact that a child of the head of education for the country was diagnosed and treated!

  7. Gina Pera says:
    February 11, 2008 at 12:14 PM

    Thanks, Dr. Parker. I’ve long seen these types of glasses exhibited at ADHD/LD conferences and always wondered about them, It’s good to know why they might work for some people and not others.

    Gina

  8. Dr Charles Parker says:
    February 10, 2008 at 1:21 PM

    John,
    Many thanks for your interesting and comprehensive reply. I know many will appreciate the clarifications as I do, and I look forward to chasing down these details.
    Chuck

  9. John Hayes says:
    February 10, 2008 at 1:02 PM

    There is a better , cheaper, and guaranteed product than the Irlen Lenses you mention in your article. They are the See Right Dyslexia Glasses available at http://www.dyslexiaglasses.com . Because of a different approach they do not require a personal evaluation.

    While the Irlen Lenses may have been the best product in the past that is no longer the case. The quality standard used in the Irlen method is ” is this color better than the last color for reading?”. As the testing goes along there are frequently many steps along the way where a person may see some relief of symptoms with the final best color for the individual being considered the answer and success. This success does not mean that there is no longer a visual problem just that the problem is some degree less than it was before.

    The claim for the See Right Dyslexia Glasses is: for the visual dyslexic that can describe visual problems that make reading difficult the See Right Dyslexia Glasses will remove those problems. Removing the visual problems is the standard of success.

    The Irlen method has no guarantee except that you will pay for the personal evaluations whether or not you receive any benefit to your reading difficulties. The See Right Dyslexia Glasses have a full money back guarantee for any reason.

    You mention poor depth perception as a problem. Irlen lenses have a poor record of helping that. The See Right Dyslexia Glasses always restore normal depth perception for visual dyslexics with that problem.

    When the Irlen lenses were the only option around it may have made sense to spend the time and effort and money for a product that might help remove ( to any degree ) a person’s visual reading problems even without a guarantee. News articles that exposed the fact that the Irlen screeners had a quota requiring them to send 50% of the people screened on to the more expensive individual evaluations helps to explain why a guarantee can not be offered.

    Trying the See Right Dyslexia Glasses by ordering them from http://www.dyslexiaglasses.com seems to be the best risk free option. The money back guarantee includes postage limiting the financial risk to paying for postage to return the glasses.