Benefits of testing children for vision problems

Opinion piece by Mary Cubie,
Irlen diagnostician and Clinic director

There is widespread concern about the large number of students who are under achieving in education and leaving school without suitable qualifications for tertiary study or employment.

The government believes that the introduction of National Standards in Literacy and Numeracy at primary school will help correct the problem and lead to improved levels of achievement at all levels.

While I have no problem with the introduction of National Standards I do not believe that this will be a total solution on its own.

From my experience as a parent, SPELD tutor, teacher and Irlen diagnostician I know that many of the children who are struggling to learn have underlying perceptual problems that prevent them from thriving in a normal classroom.

If children cannot see clearly and comfortably they cannot maintain concentration and achieve as they should. Because the children look normal, it is often assumed that they are just not interested in learning, whereas the opposite is usually true.

The children themselves are not aware that they have a perceptual problem because what they see is “normal” for them.

The good news is that with the right tests and treatment these problems can be easily identified and corrected, leading to accelerated progress being made.

Schools and teachers can also be blamed for the ‘failure’ of their under-achieving students.

However, even with the best teaching in the world, if children cannot see clearly and comfortably and cannot concentrate because of their sensitivity to glare, they are not in a position to learn.

Irlen Syndrome is a visual perceptual dysfunction that affects approximately 12 per cent of the population to a serious degree. It is genetic in nature with 84 per cent of affected children having at least one parent affected to a greater or lesser degree. Boys and girls are equally affected and symptoms vary from person to person.

The majority are light sensitive and cannot cope with the glare of fluorescent lighting, whiteboards, white paper and computer screens.

When you consider lighting in modern classrooms and offices, you will understand how uncomfortable such places are for these people.

Fatigue, headaches and inability to concentrate are common symptoms.

There is often a disparity between their reading and listening comprehension skills. PATs provide a useful standardised assessment for identifying this. Children with reading difficulties usually see print in a distorted way.

Some have a limited span of focus seeing only a few letters at a time, while others say the words move and change places or even disappear altogether.

Is it any wonder that they give up, thinking that they must be dumb when their friends seem to cope so easily?

Some have depth perception problems as well as sensitivity to glare. This can affect their ability to participate in sport, cope with steps and stairs and even catch a ball or ride a bicycle.

Judging distance and speed is a worry for some people. This affects safety, when crossing a road, riding a bicycle or driving a car.

Having tested and treated over 1600 people for Irlen Syndrome and seen the instant benefits experienced, the relief and joy expressed on discovering that they were not stupid, that there was a scientifically based reason for their difficulties, and a solution in the form of tinted lenses, I am in no doubt that this is something that should be made available total who need it.

While the incidence of Irlen Syndrome is conservatively estimated at 12 per cent of the general population specific studies show that the figures are much higher in other groups.

• A study carried out at Rotorua Lakes High school in 1993 showed that among the students on remedial programmes the figure was much higher, with 70 per cent having previously undiagnosed vision problems, i.e. eyesight and/or Irlen Syndrome.
   
• In 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 tests were carried out at the NZ Welding School in Rotorua on students because of the literacy problems noted by staff. Results showed an average incidence of 60 per cent across these groups of students the majority of whom had few formal qualifications from school.
   
• In 2006 four intakes of “At Risk” intermediate school students at the Te Korowai Whakaora unit were tested for eyesight problems and Irlen Syndrome and the results were that 5/6, 6/6, 5/6 and 5/6 of the respective intakes had vision difficulties.

I recommend that children who are experiencing learning difficulties and/or behavioural problems be tested for possible eyesight problems by an optometrist and by an Irlen screener or Irlen diagnostician for symptoms of Irlen Syndrome.

From my experience 60 per cent of the children needing Irlen tinted lenses to correct their visual perception problems passed the eyesight tests with the optometrist and just needed tinted plano lenses, usually combined with a UV filter, while the other 40 per cent needed corrective lenses with the appropriate Irlen tints added.