Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome

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Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome

• Presented by
• Courtney, Paul Matt

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Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome

• Also known as Irlens Syndrome
• It is believed that this condition affects
  approximately 12 of the population
• Caused by the brain and/or eye incorrectly
  processing/interpreting what the eye is seeing
  (i.e. it is neurological).

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DO STUDENTS REPORT ANY OF THESE PROBLEMS?

• WHY YOUR
• Read slowly
• Cannot keep up with reading assignments
• Need to reread for comprehension
• Performance or grades do not reflect effort
  expended or time spent on tasks
• Feel that they have a learning problem or that
  they are dumb, stupid, or lazy
• Study hard and understand the material but
  perform poorly on tests
• Avoid textbooks and use cliff notes or abridged
  versions
• Read beginnings or endings rather than whole
  chapters or entire books
• Use listening skills to pass courses
• Avoid doing reading assignments
• Find it easier to learn information from
  discussion rather than reading
• Difficulty taking notes in class

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Important

• If  you suspect Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome,
  the individual must first have a comprehensive
  vision exam by an optometrist or ophthalmologist
  to have any acuity or refraction problems
  corrected.  Then testing can be done to determine
  the existence of SSS.
• Often, an individual with dyslexia has more than
  one type of learning disability.  Tinted lenses
  or plastic overlays were found to help 88 of
  dyslexic individuals read better.

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Main Symptoms

• Light Sensitivity
• Contrast Problems
• Restricted Clear Vision of Field
• Poor Depth Perception
• Difficulty Paying Attention and Concentrating

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Light Sensitivity

• glare from lights (e.g. from on-coming headlights
  on cars)
• glare from surfaces (e.g. glaring spots of
  sunlight on cars)
• bright lighting
• fluorescent lights
• sunlight
• night vision

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Contrast Problems

• bold black text on bright white paper. The text
  or the background may appear to move
• stripe patterns and bold patterns such as those
  on clothes, carpets, wallpaper, posters etc. can
  appear to move/vibrate and some patterns may
  appear to be three dimensional.
• May experience difficulties reading from bold
  colours such as neon colours

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Restricted Clear Vision of Field

• this is when only a few letters on a page appear
  clear and the rest of the page appears out of
  focus
• Makes it difficult to keep track of where you are
  on a page

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Poor Depth Perception

• Difficulty judging the distance and the
  relationship between objects
• can cause difficulty with ball sports,
  escalators, walking and bumping into objects,
  driving/cycling and estimating heights

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Difficulty Paying Attention and Concentrating

• difficulty staying on a task such as reading or
  studying
• restlessness
• Tiredness
• Often need to take frequent breaks

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Through the Eyes of Someone with Scotopic
Sensitivity Syndrome

• http//www.hale.ndo.co.uk/scotopic/

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Testing using the Irlen Method

• The first session begins with a detailed history,
  including a series of questions asking the
  individual if they experience any of the
  following eye fatigue, excessive blinking,
  blurred vision, difficulty with concentration,
  skipping words, words "running off the page,"
  etc.
• After these questions, the individual is asked a
  series of questions regarding general health
  problems.
• The individual is then asked to respond to
  certain visual tasks. This includes
  interpretation of figure-ground relationships in
  several geometric figures, reading selected
  printed material for content, judgment about
  relative positioning of figures such as musical
  notes, and interpretation of a series of stylized
  figures.
• Results of these tests are used to determine if
  an individual has scotopic sensitivity syndrome.

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• Session Two
• The individual reads text through a series of
  tinted overlays used alone or in combination.
• There are seven tints ranging from yellow through
  blue to green.

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What Helps

• Reducing glare using dull coloured paper for
  reading and writing. Never reading in bright
  light or sunlight.
• Wearing tinted lenses or using coloured overlays
  to reduce some visual distortions
• Always wearing sunglasses when outside in the
  sun.

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References

• http//www.hale.ndo.co.uk/scotopic/definition.htm
• Henk, W., Rickelman. (1990). Colored overlays
  and tinted lens filters. Reading Technology,
  Retrieved June 2006, Vol. 44 Issue 2, p166-168,
  3p (AN 11080526)