Keegan, an 11 year old boy came with his mom for an appointment at the Krist Samaritan Irlen Clinic, Houston/Galveston to improve his sports performance by getting sports goggles with a precise Irlen color.
Keegan had already been given an overlay (plastic sheet of a particular color) to make text clearer and stop it moving when reading.
As the session continued, as is often the case, his mom and I got more of description about what was happening for him in the environment because he noticed differences with his Irlen color. First Keegan started looking around my office intently, darting his head in difference directions: “I like it, I can see many more words, like the ones on that chart!” His mom said that was a great example as glare was shining off the chart and he wouldn’t normally be able to make out what was on it.
When we went outside to test what the color would be like in sports goggles Keegan was amazed at the clarity in the environment: “I can see a spider web!” He pointed up to a tiny strand that I had to go closer to see. Keegan also noticed he could see much more from the sides when he was looking straight ahead, peripheral vision improvement will definitely help him in sports.
As Keegan plays baseball his mom was keen to see if catching a ball was any easier when wearing the color. In the video he explains that usually the ball ‘shakes’ but not anymore! That’s why he chose to catch ‘outfield’ rather than ‘infield’ so he has longer to judge where the ball is. His mom also got Keegan to stand as if he was going to bat and she threw the ball at his body to see if he could catch it. I wondered about this but she explained that usually he can’t judge where the ball is and so just jumps out of the way. He can’t wait to get the sports googles tinted and use them in a game!
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