This is a difficult problem. Although the diagnosis can be hard to diagnose
in the public schools, reading specialists should be able to "note the
problem" to parents and with that information (and the help of physicians,
including ophthalmologists--who can determine if there are other issues
regarding the eye, including diseases), a student can be offered solutions
to the problems.
As someone who had experience working at a special school serving visually
impaired, blind, and special populations, in general, we were often
accustomed to utilizing various techniques and meeting as teams to discuss
problems that children had with vision. With the help of our staff--reading
specialist, ophthalmologists, general physicians, psychologists /
psychometrists, classroom teacher, orientation and mobility specialists,
etc.--we were able to brainstorm various problems, unusual syndromes and
diseases that affect the eye and attempt to solve them. Unfortunately,
that's not the case in public schools--you just don't have those specialists
on the staff.
If a child in your public school has a serious reading problem (or appears
to have one) that cannot be diagnosed by a reading specialist or an
ophthalmologist individually, I would highly suggest that you (or the
parent) contact a local (or state) school for the blind or visually impaired
(or visual rehabilitation services department) in order to locate various
options, individuals or specialists to help your students.
Sometimes it takes a "team effort" to help figure out the problem.
Just an opinion.
~Shonda Brisco
Trinity Valley MS / US Librarian
Fort Worth, TX
sbrisco021@charter.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Leah Hawkins" <leahleah@ATTBI.COM>
To: <LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, March 04, 2003 8:40 PM
Subject: Re: reading with colored overlays
> The topic of using colored overlays to help with reading was recently
> mentioned/discussed briefly. I remembered attending a very interesting
lecture
> given over 10 years ago at a place similar to Sylvan Learning Center.
They
> talked about a specific disorder which was helped by using various colored
> overlays. They showed simulations of what a person with this disorder
would
> see when they looked at a page of black and white text - it was
horrifying:
> all the letters would be shadowing themselves OR letters in a sentence
would
> be "falling" right out of the sentence OR there would be big gaps between
the
> letters in a word or sentence, etc.
>
> I finally found a one page information sheet from that lecture in my
files.
> The disorder is called scotopic sensitivity syndrome. It is a very
complex
> disorder and cannot usually be diagnosed by a regular optomotrist or
> opthamologist; it is extremely difficult to diagnose at all. Some
symptoms
> include sensitivity to lights, severe eye strain/fatigue, poor reading
> comprehension, etc. Various testing with a variety of colored overlays
and
> even combinations of colors provide "relief" for those who suffer from the
> disorder.
>
> A google search on the disorder found lots of related sites if anyone is
really
> interested.
> --
> Leah Hawkins, Librarian
> West Hurst Elementary
> Hurst, TX
> leahleah@attbi.com
>
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