Client wanted me to record her ‘Irlen Journey’ as it was ‘super important’ that people knew about the difference color can make. She suffers from light sensitivity, migraines, visual distortions when reading and has depth perception issues. She cannot look at anything white, patterned or brightly colored.
Client contacted me and explained she was tired of ‘living in the dark’ due to light sensitivity. She was lucky to be able to control the lighting in her work environment but on a recent In Service training developed a migraine under the fluorescent lights (often used in school/college environments). Sometimes she looses her vision and has strobe like symptoms. She has consulted with many professionals including a neurologist.
The first stage to an Irlen assessment is a screening, to make sure color is part of the solution for a client. During the screening it emerged that my client also had trouble focusing on objects or words she was trying to read. If she stared the area around what she was staring at would be come fuzzy. A particular color of overlay (clear, plastic sheet) helped her focus when reading and stopped words moving. As she had lots of environmental and light sensitivity issues I advised another session to find out which combination of colors (worn as glasses) could help alleviate them.
She was excited at the prospect of undertaking the Filter Diagnostic and was amazed at the difference colored lenses made (she does not need a prescription so they are plano). With her combination of colors she could look at white, patterns and bright colors comfortably. She said they also helped with ‘flashes/sparkles’ she sees in the environment and helped her walk up stairs one foot at a time instead of having to put both feet on each stair. She also commented that our reception area looked much more ‘open’ she couldn’t see how big it was without the Filters (this span of focus increase will aid driving!) Although her tint color looked dark - to her it was ‘brighter than without and much more comfortable’ the color combination also ensured she could see colors in the environment normally.
