Irlen Syndrome

Reading

Thoughts after Reading

Walk Hallway

Walk Stairs

Thoughts after Stairs

Patterned Rug

Ramp

Parking Lot

Dr. Bohl, the neurological ophthalmologist, referred Philomena for Irlen Syndrome testing.  Irlen Syndrome is when the brain has trouble processing the light coming into the eyes.  The brain spends so much energy processing the light reflections that it has little energy to process what the person is actually looking at.  Philomena compared looking at drawings and words with no filter and then with a variety of colored filters.  A blue-grey tint on her glasses (the 3 filters that she's holding in the large clothespins) will block the light her brain struggles with and then she can process the things she needs to focus on.  I was shocked at how her reading fluency improved with just the color filter.  The other shocking insight was how little Philomena is able to process depth.  The reading video and the ramp video are the best at showing the dramatic improvement this precise color filter will do for her.  Each person with Irlen Syndrome is tested to determine the exact color combination that they need.