Hi I am in the UK and a Specialist Teacher trained in HANDLE, Interactive Metronome and Irlens Screener.. Just to let you know that I find if I can reduce light sensitivity (SSS) then I also find it is possible to make improvements with binocularity and ocular motility issues. Likewise I always find SSS with dyslexia and Tourette Syndrome. Several have been able to describe to me how the overlays or filters remove the ‘pain’ involved with the SSS. Personally I always assess for SSS as a matter of course. Since 2012, I have only found one young person who didn’t test positive for SSS. I am led by the children, young people and adults I work with.

Irlen syndrome, also called scotopic sensitivity syndrome, is the term used to describe the discomfort caused when someone has hyper-sensitive photoreceptors making the pattern the text on paper uncomfortable which causes headaches and difficulty reading. It is considered controversial as there has been inconsistent results attempting to objectively demonstrate and diagnose the condition. I have heard enough anecdotes to think this is something we need in our “toolbox” but things like uncorrected refractive state, binocular vision problems and dyslexia are all more common than Irlen syndrome and should be ruled out before an Irlen evaluation. That said, Irlen assessors are specifically trained and you can find one near you here. https://irlen.com/find-an-irlen-test-center/

There is a new systematic review on IS here too. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30970133/

Irlen syndrome is not covered in our course.