Dyslexia and making progress in learning to read

Yesterday I attended the Learning Difficulties Australia conference here in Melbourne. The focus for the conference was the discussion around the effectiveness of the Reading Recovery Program. Three highly respected academics presented: Tom Nicholson (Professor at the University of Tasmania, John Hattie and Dr Kerry Hempenstell.
John Hattie presented some research that showed what the most effective programs are. The program that has the most effect on student learning outcomes is the teaching of vocabulay programs and repeated reading programs. It was also suggested that students with dyslexia, will require more intensive instruction for longer periods of time.

"...we are not suggesting that children diagnosed as having dyslexia cannot make progress in learning to read. Rather, our claim is that these children require more intensive instruction of longer duration of the kind provided in the third tier of RTI models" (Tunmer & Greaney, 2010).
I will talk about the 3 Tiers next time, but basically, this means 1:1 individual programs with the teacher and one student. This may be programs such as Reading Recovery, Bridges etc.

Until next time,
Cheers,
Christine

Irlen Screener update course

Hello Everyone,
I'm excited to report that next week I will be attending the Irlen Screener's qualification update course. As with anything, it is important to keep up to date with the latest research, findings, methods and processes. So, I'm looking forward to reporting back to you the information I receive on the day.
Stay tuned and please email me any questions or wonderings you might have about Irlen Syndrome, Dyslexia or reading difficulties in general.
Take care
Christine

Can coloured lenses help those who suffer from migraines?

Thanks to The Irlen Institute for posting this reminder about the relationship between migraines and Irlen Lenses.

An article on colored lenses for migraines mentioning Irlen to be published Jan 2 in Daily Health News.

Have a lovely day everyone!

Christine

Head Injuries and the Irlen Method

In this YouTube clip, Helen Irlen talks about head injuries. She highlights the fact that head injuries can create a variety of physical symptoms such as headaches and dizziness, which can affect depth perception. This therefore, will create reading problems.
Helen explains how the Irlen Method can get rid of these symptoms that are a result of a head injury.
It's a great summary of the Irlen Method.

Have a great day.
Christine

A Youtube clip that shows the benefits of using Irlen lenses.

What things can help overcome Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome?

The following excerpt is taken from the book 'My World is not your World' written by Alison Hale. It is her autobiography that aims to tell her story from her point of view. Alison has Dyslexia, Aspergers and Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome. The book gives a very good insight into what it is like to live with these conditions. The book traces her life from her early childhood experiences to the present.
"I looked out into the world through my distorted senses unable to make coherent meaning of all the mesmerising fragments of noise, light, words and sensations....    "

Alison also talks about the things that helped her overcome Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome.     These include the following:

Reducing glare: using dull coloured paper for reading and writing. Never reading in bright light, fluorescent or sunlight. Wearing tinted lenses in my glasses to reduce some of the visual distortions and make my eyes feel calmer. Always wearing sunglasses when outside on sunny days. Using LCD computer screens as opposed to CRT screens (CRT screens flicker). Setting up Computer Screen to suit me - Optimise Computer Screen. Adjusting website text size using my Internet Browser settings (In IE in top menu bar go to 'View' then select 'Text Size'). This works on my website but not on all websites! Using a bookmark when reading so that I do not lose my place. Reading for short periods with breaks rather than trying to read continuously over a long period. To ensure I do not become too tired I limit the time I spend in busy crowded places (eg. supermarkets, shopping centres, pubs!, etc...) where there are lots of visual stimuli. Her book is available from Amazon and is called 'My World is not Your World'.

Can frequent headaches be associated with Irlen Syndrome?

Can frequent headaches be associated with Irlen Syndrome and what is Visual Stress?

One of my readers emailed me the above question yesterday and I thought I would share this with you.
The answer to this great question is yes. Yes, headaches can be associated with Irlen Syndrome and  this can be due to a condition we call, visual stress. How do you get visual stress? Visual stress can be caused by something known as light sensitivity. An individual who suffers from light sensitivity is basically very sensitive to sunlight and/or inside lights. E.g. fluorescent lights. You would find a person with light sensitivity wearing sunglasses on a cloudy day for example. This is because the glare is too bright for them, even though there is no direct sun light.

Visual stress can also be a result of reading, looking at your computer monitor or laptop for long periods of time, watching movies or TV, sensory overload, allergies, brain injury and visual distortions. There may be other causes for visual stress as well that I have not mentioned here.

This is where using the Irlen overlays or wearing Irlen lenses can provide relief for individuals in some cases. I believe that there is currently some research happening in this area at the moment, and this is  very exciting for all of us interested in this area.

Please forward any questions and I will endeavour to answer them for you.

Have a great day!
Christine