[.ca] Reading By The Colors Revised Edition (ISBN 0399531564)

Outdated:
Irlen's original hypothesis was interesting. It has been proven to be outdated, and this book (and the whole Irlen approach) ought to disappear from the helping-the-dyslexic shelf. Dyslexia is not a visual problem, it is a neurological processing problem. Glasses or colored overlays won't raise a kid's reading level--getting the brain to recognize sounds and the relation to symbols is the answer. The International Dyslexia Association has reliable information. I am sure there are people who are bothered by lights and so on who feel better when they wear dark glasses or whatever. It is just not a cure for specific language disabilities. I see the Irlen Screeners as desperately needing more "sufferers" to justify the cost of their training. "But it worked for MEEee!" is not an acceptable answer to "where is the research?"

A Piece of the Learning Puzzle for You or Your Child?:
Has this book rasied controversy? Yes. Does the Irlen Method help everyone with reading/writing/learning problems? No. Should you explore this as a piece of the puzzle for you or your child? Yes. Louis Pasture created controversy when he accused unwashed physicians of spreading disease among their patients. Irlen states there is a percentage of individuals who cannot be helped by her method and they can be identified. This book details the experiences of psychologist Helen Irlen as she worked with learners who, although intelligent and motivated, were experiencing reading/learning difficulties which lead to academic underachievement or failure. By listening to her students, (sometimes difficult for those of us working as a helping professional), express their difficulties with reading and writing based activities, Irlen realized that their difficulties did not fall into traditional diagnostic-therapeutic paradigms. This was a new set of conditions calling for new methods. She called the condition Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrorme. It is now called Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity. Through a "happy accident," Irlen and her students discovered that colored plastic overlays reduced or eliminated the discomfort and distortions the students experienced in reading and writing based activities. This was the beginning of The Irlen Method: the use of color in the form of Irlen Overlays or Irlen Filters worn as tinted glasses or contact lenses. Today there are over 100,000 Irlen Filter wearers world-wide. Many times more use the Irlen Overlays. World-wide medical, educational, and neurological research continues to demonstrate the presence of Irlen Syndrome/Scotopic Sensitivity and the efficacy of the Irlen Method. If you or your child experience learning or work difficulties, exploring the Irlen Method could be of benefit.

Hope for the hopeless.:
For 22 years I taught special education and told parents I had no answers to their child's learning difficulties. Then I discovered the methods outlined in Reading By the Colors. The method worked for me and some of the 500 people I have screened. There is always hope.

Great resource:
As a special education teacher I have worked with hundreds of students with reading and learning disabilities. Many of my students have been helped with the colored overlays and gone on to have their lenses tinted. This book outlines a treatable visual perceptual disorder which is so often overlooked. It may not be the only reason a student has reading difficulties, but for many students using the overlays can have a significant improvement on their reading.

Astonishing:
I was looking for help for my child when I stumbled upon the Irlen method. Not only has it helped my child but also myself and husband. Such a simple solution to a peice of our son's puzzle. THANKS HELEN IRLEN