Some of you would be interested in this recent research article
(cited below) by British researcher Arnold Wilkins, author of Reading Through
Colour; How coloured filters can reduce reading difficulty, eye strain, and
headaches (Wiley, 2003). Irlen syndrome is known as Meares-Irlen Syndrome by
Wilkins and others.

From the article: "One possible mechanism of the benefit of coloured
filters is therefore that they redistribute the activity within the visual
cortex in such a way as to reduce the amount of excitation in locally
hyperexcitable regions." (Check this quote before using it, please.)
Those benefiting from coloured filters, the articles mentions, are
persons with photosensitive epilepsy and migraines (or persons with a family
history of migraines). He also mentions anecdotal evidence of help for those
with MS, autism and head injury.

You'd find his thoughts about printed lines as visually stressful
"stripes," type size and so forth interesting. He and his coauthors say type
size gets too small too early for young readers, creating discomfort, reading
difficulty, dislike of reading, etc. (We Irlen screeners find some clients were
good readers until about age 8, when print got smaller and text got longer.)

Here's an abstract and the link to the full article.
Journal of Research in Reading




Table of Contents > Issue > Abstract

Volume 27: Issue 2
Visual stress theory and its application to reading and reading
tests

Arnold Wilkins
Jie Huang
Yue Cao




Abstract
This paper presents a theory of visual stress. The theory is applied to
the assessment of symptoms of visual stress and its treatment with coloured
filters. The theory has implications for standard reading assessments that
relate both to the visual skills and the age of the children taking the tests.
These implications are reviewed, with the conclusion that insufficient attention
is paid to visual factors in reading, particularly in the design of reading
tests.


Article Type: Original Article
Page range: 152 - 162
11 Page(s)



The full article is at:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/psychology/overlays/JRIR_02702004.pdf

I can also email you the article in a pdf file if you are interested.

******************************************
Julie Evans, M.Ag.
Certified Irlen Screener
502 Riverside Dr. NE
St. Cloud, MN 56304
320-251-7493
julie@...
www.ReadingAndLight.com
Irlen Syndrome can include problems with: reading (blurring, etc.), headaches,
eyestrain, light sensitivity, attention
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