colored transparencies

First, the term dyslexia means reading disability or disorder. (I use disability when referring to legal issues and disorder the rest of the time.) I’m not sure what the term learning disability means, in reality, since it covers over 5,000 different possible conditions.

There is no way to tell which students will be positively impacted by colored lenses and which will not. It is a trial and error process either in the optomitrist’s office or in the reading lab/classroom.

I keep some around—there is a company in FL that has some nice ones for little money…I’ll try to bring the information home from school and post it. I always offer it as a trial for students who have visual processing issues. Sometimes students think it helps…sometimes, not. I don’t take the time to control an experiment on them, though. Not cost effective in the over-all scheme because the materials are too cheap. If the student likes ‘em, they can have ‘em. If mom wants ‘em, she can have ‘em.

Thank you for your reply. Exceptional children is not my area of study, therefore I am not familiar with all of the correct terminology. However, I am interested in providing whatever tool that might be effective with our students. I will make the suggestion to my teachers to use colored transparencies. I do not think it will harm, and it could benefit. Thanks again for your input

I had bought the Irlen overlays and I just passed them out to my kids in my reading class yesterday. Some said that they were good because it took the glare off the book. You know, florescent lighting isn’t always good for reading. My class is very bright and there is a lot of glare. They also liked different colors, no preference. If they feel better using the overlays, I will let them use them. I will post more about this after they have used them more.

I too have used the color overlays, and have had 2 students in the past that went to the Irlen center to be evaluated. It does seem to help some. I also encourage wearing a baseball cap when reading it blocks a lot of glare. Just try putting your hands over your brow like a brim and see the difference for yourself.

nt

Actually the best I could do was to buy colored plastic folders/ view thru report finders. Check at Staples or Office Depot. Irlen uses blue and peach.