Comments on: A simple Irlen overlay enabled this 9-year-old to read> > http://www.rogerwheaton.com/2008/06/06/a-simple-irlen-overlay-enabled-this-9-year-old-to-read/ Irlen Syndrome, Dyslexia, Migraines, ADHD & Asperger's Syndrome Wed, 02 Nov 2011 23:44:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Lynne http://www.rogerwheaton.com/2008/06/06/a-simple-irlen-overlay-enabled-this-9-year-old-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-107 Lynne Mon, 02 Feb 2009 05:41:14 +0000 http://www.rogerwheaton.com/2008/06/06/a-simple-irlen-overlay-enabled-this-9-year-old-to-read/#comment-107 Our experience was so similar. My daughter Chris, did great in school, but when she read aloud, she did so in a halting, slow way. She skipped words and lines and mixed words up. I mentioned it to every teacher she had from 1st to 6th grade. They each referred to her excellent test scores & grades & one teacher had me compare silent reading rates w/ aloud reading rates; they were similar. No one saw a problem. Still, I just KNEW something was amiss, but what? In 6th grade, Chris had to read a book with tiny print. She became nauseous while reading (she has always had slight motion sickness). She had headaches while reading almost daily. Our family read to her at home in the evenings to keep her caught up with the school book clubs, outside reading and regular homework. I asked her aunt, a special ed. teacher, if she'd heard of nausea when reading & scotopic syndrome entered our lives. We went on the Irlen website the next day & Chris said YES to almost every self test question. I couldn't believe what she was saying she experienced! I was upset but relieved. Then my husband entered the room and saw what we were doing and said, "that happens to me too"! (...frustration... for all of us!) We went to Ms. David, the diagnostician in our area, and as Chris tried to read without any overlays, she leaned forward, scrunched her face & eyes and tried her best. The words jump, move, she sees white rivers and the words also disappear. When the overlays were used, her whole body sat back and relaxed. Ms. David pointed that out to me. I also couldn't believe what my daughter had to endure, still succeeding all 7 years of school! Both her and my tears just started flowing - I felt awful to have let this go on for so long, but thankfully, we finally had an answer. Chris adapted to her lenses right away & has used them for 2 years. She advocates for herself in school. High school is next & we are a bit nervous, but so far all of her teachers are very accomodating, even getting her some audio books to help with reading large amounts per night. I emailed every teacher she had in the past about Irlen & the effects on Chris. Teachers & districts need to be aware of Irlen & test for it early on so children don't suffer needlessly for years when it can be so easily remedied. Chris has read, for enjoyment, 600 page books and a long 4-book series. We couldn't be prouder or happier we discovered the answers to help her out! Our experience was so similar. My daughter Chris, did great in school, but when she read aloud, she did so in a halting, slow way. She skipped words and lines and mixed words up. I mentioned it to every teacher she had from 1st to 6th grade. They each referred to her excellent test scores & grades & one teacher had me compare silent reading rates w/ aloud reading rates; they were similar. No one saw a problem. Still, I just KNEW something was amiss, but what?
In 6th grade, Chris had to read a book with tiny print. She became nauseous while reading (she has always had slight motion sickness). She had headaches while reading almost daily. Our family read to her at home in the evenings to keep her caught up with the school book clubs, outside reading and regular homework.

I asked her aunt, a special ed. teacher, if she’d heard of nausea when reading & scotopic syndrome entered our lives. We went on the Irlen website the next day & Chris said YES to almost every self test question. I couldn’t believe what she was saying she experienced! I was upset but relieved. Then my husband entered the room and saw what we were doing and said, “that happens to me too”! (…frustration… for all of us!)

We went to Ms. David, the diagnostician in our area, and as Chris tried to read without any overlays, she leaned forward, scrunched her face & eyes and tried her best. The words jump, move, she sees white rivers and the words also disappear. When the overlays were used, her whole body sat back and relaxed. Ms. David pointed that out to me. I also couldn’t believe what my daughter had to endure, still succeeding all 7 years of school! Both her and my tears just started flowing – I felt awful to have let this go on for so long, but thankfully, we finally had an answer.
Chris adapted to her lenses right away & has used them for 2 years. She advocates for herself in school. High school is next & we are a bit nervous, but so far all of her teachers are very accomodating, even getting her some audio books to help with reading large amounts per night.
I emailed every teacher she had in the past about Irlen & the effects on Chris. Teachers & districts need to be aware of Irlen & test for it early on so children don’t suffer needlessly for years when it can be so easily remedied.
Chris has read, for enjoyment, 600 page books and a long 4-book series. We couldn’t be prouder or happier we discovered the answers to help her out!

]]> By: Jane http://www.rogerwheaton.com/2008/06/06/a-simple-irlen-overlay-enabled-this-9-year-old-to-read/comment-page-1/#comment-82 Jane Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:35:20 +0000 http://www.rogerwheaton.com/2008/06/06/a-simple-irlen-overlay-enabled-this-9-year-old-to-read/#comment-82 Hi Christine. You and I are both mothers of nine-year-olds and, it seems, we both cry! I took my daughter to be tested yesterday, after years of frustration in trying to use the same methods, that I use to learn, with her. To hear her describe what she saw to the consultant was unnerving, to say the least. Georgia sees purple coming out of the black text, vibration, lines of words moving up the page and her focus on the white is so powerful that she sees rivers of white on the page and loses letters altogether. When she was tested to count symbols and spaces in different patterns, she couldn't do it - during one of the tests she got to five and then couldn't go any further. She became hot and flushed - a real physical reaction to an activity that was really straining her mind. With the overlay, she got every one of them 100% correct, without hestitation and with an incredible confidence. That's when I started to bawl.... I couldn't imaging what it would be like to have such an infuriating (is there another word for 'disability'?) Georgia is a very bright girl, with amazing mathematical and artistic ability. It's words that have been her problem, until now. Thank God we found this. She couldn't contain her joy. She doesn't care what colour the glasses have to be - she just wants them so badly now. So, Christine, I am looking forward to joining you in spilling a few more tears of joy when she's reading with confidence... and actually enjoying it! Jane Hi Christine. You and I are both mothers of nine-year-olds and, it seems, we both cry!

I took my daughter to be tested yesterday, after years of frustration in trying to use the same methods, that I use to learn, with her.

To hear her describe what she saw to the consultant was unnerving, to say the least. Georgia sees purple coming out of the black text, vibration, lines of words moving up the page and her focus on the white is so powerful that she sees rivers of white on the page and loses letters altogether.

When she was tested to count symbols and spaces in different patterns, she couldn’t do it – during one of the tests she got to five and then couldn’t go any further. She became hot and flushed – a real physical reaction to an activity that was really straining her mind. With the overlay, she got every one of them 100% correct, without hestitation and with an incredible confidence. That’s when I started to bawl…. I couldn’t imaging what it would be like to have such an infuriating (is there another word for ‘disability’?)

Georgia is a very bright girl, with amazing mathematical and artistic ability. It’s words that have been her problem, until now. Thank God we found this.

She couldn’t contain her joy. She doesn’t care what colour the glasses have to be – she just wants them so badly now. So, Christine, I am looking forward to joining you in spilling a few more tears of joy when she’s reading with confidence… and actually enjoying it! Jane

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