EyeCare - GlassesComplete: Meares

Coloured Glasses - Meares–Irlen syndrome

"Children who persist in using their overlay usually find coloured glasses more convenient to use. Glasses can help with writing, whereas overlays cannot. The degree of precision in the choice of colour is critical for obtaining the best results, and the precision available with lenses is far greater than with overlays. Perhaps for this reason glasses often give better results.

It is essential to realise that the appropriate colour for use in glasses is not the same as that in overlays. For example, a child may choose a yellow overlay and benefit from blue lenses. The colour of the lenses can only be assessed by optometrists or orthoptists who use the Intuitive Colorimeter ®, or by the use of a very large number of coloured trial lenses. Other methods of selecting coloured lenses may be less likely to select the optimal colour.

When you wear glasses everthing you see is coloured, but you are often unaware of the colouration because you adapt to it and make allowances for it (for example, the colour of light from a normal household light bulb is very yellow in comparison to daylight, but you are never aware of this). When you use an overlay only part of what you see is coloured and the eyes are adapted to white light. The way that the brain processes what you see in the two circumstances is very different."

Coloured Overlays / Coloured Glasses - Meares–Irlen syndrome

There are many factors involved. First, are the overlays obviously beneficial? If so, only a short trial period, say six weeks, is necessary, particularly if headaches have been reduced but not eliminated, and if untidy writing continues to be a problem. Under these circumstances glasses may further reduce the headaches and may well improve the handwriting.

If, on the other hand, the response to overlays is less marked, it seems sensible to see whether the child continues to use overlays without prompting for, say, a school term or longer, before considering coloured glasses. Coloured glasses are more expensive than overlays, and it may be wise to wait before incurring the cost.

Another factor to consider is the age of the child. It is often difficult to assess a child for coloured glasses below the age of 8."

Coloured Overlays + Meares–Irlen syndrome

Coloured overlays are sheets of translucent or transparent coloured plastic that can be placed over a page of a book.
Coloured overlays reduce the perceptual distortions of text that children sometimes describe. They enable some children to read text more fluently and with less discomfort and fewer headaches. Each individual seems to need a different colour, so it is important to assess the effects of a wide range of colours.
In several studies, children in county primary schools were individually shown a passage of text covered in turn by a variety of coloured overlays, including grey or clear overlays for comparison. About 20% of the children found one or other of the colours improved the clarity of the text. They continued to use an overlay of that colour without prompting for more than three months. They read more quickly with their overlay, both before and after they had become accustomed to its use."

Signs Of Meares–Irlen syndrome

"Some of the signs may be:

rubbing eyes
excessive blinking
poor concentration
inefficient reading
difficulty in keeping place"

Meares–Irlen syndrome

"The term Meares–Irlen syndrome is sometimes used to refer to the collection of symptoms and signs of visual fatigue when reading that are reduced when colour is used as therapy. Other terms are Irlen syndrome or Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS). (The syndrome is not yet widely recognised by the medical and scientific communities, and there is no universal agreement on its name.) The symptoms of visual perceptual distortion in children with reading difficulty were first described by Olive Meares, but have been listed by Helen Irlen, as follows.

symptoms of Meares-Irlen Syndrome:

Some of the main symptoms are: