Post by lillian on Sept 13, 2006 18:58:03 GMT -5
I'd read years ago that it was somewhat common for dyslexic children to have Irlen Syndrome. I had thought of having my son tested for this, after his dyslexia dx last year, but, between the private and the school testing, he had been tested out of the wahzoo, so I decided to put this off. He came up to me a couple of weeks ago and asked to be tested for it (we had discussed it a while ago). I researched it, found a local person certified by the Irlen Foundation, and had him tested today. For the first time, I sat in on my son's testing, and what I say was the most amazing thing to witness!
The evaluator started out by asking him a great deal of questions, which he had to answer with never, sometimes, often, or always. She asked questions like: Does reading make you tired? Does reading under bright lights bother you? Do your eyes hurt when you read? Do they water? Do they itch? On and on. She then showed him a design, which was made up of little squares, and he had to count the squares. She showed him another similar design with smaller squares and he had to count them. Finally, she showed him a design with plus signs, and he had to count the signs. He said, "Is this a trick question?" She asked why and he said, "Because they keep switching." She asked him what he meant, and he said, "They keep switching back and forth from diamonds to minus signs." She asked him to point at a diamond and at a minus, and he said, "I can't do it, if they keep switiching." She then asked him to try just one more time, he became anxious, rubbed his eyes, tried again, blushed, threw his hands up in the air and said, "It's an optical illusion, and I can't do it."
She got out stuff for him to read and started putting color overlays over them, asking him to decide which overlays he liked best. At the end of this section of the test, he had chosen two gray overlays on top of one another. She then got the design he said was an optical illusion, put the two gray overlays over it, and he laughed, "Those are plus signs! It's not an optical illusion. That's darn weird!" She then asked if he could count the plus signs, and he rapidly did so.
She then got out stuff for him to read. He read, as he always does, quite slowly. While he was reading, she put the overlays on top. His reading speed increased dramatically (though, he is dyslexic and is not a speed reader). She took off the overlays, while he was reading, and he startled slightly, readjusted his head position, paused, and began reading again, as slowly as he had when he began.
He was diagnosed with severe Irlen Syndrome, and he is being fitted for Irlen glasses later this month. For now, he has overlays to put over his worksheets and books.
This was the most fascinating day! For any parents out there with dyslexic kids, whose tests show a visual component (yes, I know this is not part of the legal definition), I am giving you the following link. I had been told for years, from the first battery of tests my son received around four years ago, that my son had "something visual" going on. I SAW it today. Fascinating, fascinating, fascinating.
www.irleninstitute.com/
The evaluator started out by asking him a great deal of questions, which he had to answer with never, sometimes, often, or always. She asked questions like: Does reading make you tired? Does reading under bright lights bother you? Do your eyes hurt when you read? Do they water? Do they itch? On and on. She then showed him a design, which was made up of little squares, and he had to count the squares. She showed him another similar design with smaller squares and he had to count them. Finally, she showed him a design with plus signs, and he had to count the signs. He said, "Is this a trick question?" She asked why and he said, "Because they keep switching." She asked him what he meant, and he said, "They keep switching back and forth from diamonds to minus signs." She asked him to point at a diamond and at a minus, and he said, "I can't do it, if they keep switiching." She then asked him to try just one more time, he became anxious, rubbed his eyes, tried again, blushed, threw his hands up in the air and said, "It's an optical illusion, and I can't do it."
She got out stuff for him to read and started putting color overlays over them, asking him to decide which overlays he liked best. At the end of this section of the test, he had chosen two gray overlays on top of one another. She then got the design he said was an optical illusion, put the two gray overlays over it, and he laughed, "Those are plus signs! It's not an optical illusion. That's darn weird!" She then asked if he could count the plus signs, and he rapidly did so.
She then got out stuff for him to read. He read, as he always does, quite slowly. While he was reading, she put the overlays on top. His reading speed increased dramatically (though, he is dyslexic and is not a speed reader). She took off the overlays, while he was reading, and he startled slightly, readjusted his head position, paused, and began reading again, as slowly as he had when he began.
He was diagnosed with severe Irlen Syndrome, and he is being fitted for Irlen glasses later this month. For now, he has overlays to put over his worksheets and books.
This was the most fascinating day! For any parents out there with dyslexic kids, whose tests show a visual component (yes, I know this is not part of the legal definition), I am giving you the following link. I had been told for years, from the first battery of tests my son received around four years ago, that my son had "something visual" going on. I SAW it today. Fascinating, fascinating, fascinating.
www.irleninstitute.com/
