Is It Dyslexia or Irlen Syndrome?

So is it Dyslexia or Irlen Syndrome that I or my child has? This is one of the most common questions asked when someone is tested at an Irlen Clinic and find that the colour helps immensely. 

It could be either depending on the cause, or it could be that having Irlen Syndrome is causing the dyslexia, with or without a formal diagnosis.

If someone has difficulty with reading and writing most people will automatically think dyslexia, but the important thing is to understand if there is an underlying cause of these issues and what is causing the dyslexia.

Dyslexia is associated with reading difficulties for no apparent reason. If you look at the literal meaning of dyslexia, it is defined by the Collins English Dictionary as follows:

“a developmental disorder which can cause learning difficulty in one or more of the areas of reading, writing, and numeracy” 

It has a Nontechnicalname “word blindness”

Unfortunately, people who have been told that they have dyslexia, often have Irlen Syndrome, AND THAT IS WHAT IS CAUSING THEIR DYSLEXIA!

The symptoms of dyslexia have been variously described as words moving, reversing words, inserting words, omitting words, missing lines when reading as well as other things that happen for some people when reading. These symptoms are also the symptoms of Irlen Syndrome, which is a visual processing dysfunction. Visual processing occurs when our brain processes the visual signals sent to the visual cortex from our eyes. It is not a problem with our eyesight. 

If someone has Irlen Syndrome, their brain has difficulty in processing light, especially artificial light. This difficulty means that when the person is trying to read black print on white paper, there is an interference created and the print looks distorted once the image is processed by the visual cortex.

So if you or your child is having difficulty with reading and asking yourself “Is it Dyslexia”? think about what may be causing the issues. Are you or your child also light sensitivity, do you also get headaches, and does the print distort in any way. If any of these answers are yes, then it is most likely Irlen Syndrome causing the difficulties.