Irlen/Coloured Lenses Vs Vision Therapy

[kolamum]

In my search for Vision Therapy in our area after reading the thread about children who can't read, Irlen lenses were recommended to me by two different Mamma's who've used them with success.

 

I have but a call out to the place 3 hours from my home with the place that does testing for these. However, some of the information on their self tests sound exactly like the information on Vision Therapy website{s}.

 

So, has anyone here done both?

Would you have a preference? Why?

 

I've got calls out about VT as well & I pray I hear back from all sources about everything so I can make a choice as to which we think is best for our child. Here's the thing though, I don't know very much about either subject.

 

Of course I'd love to see that my child can have therapy & then be fine, but if the coloured lenses are more what he needs that doesn't bug me either. Bottom line is, how will I know which one to choose? Is there a big difference? I'm feeling overwhelmed & could use educated information from people who've used either/or.

[herekittykitty]

We've done both, so I'll try to share our experience.

 

My DS7 was having reading trouble, and after a little online research, I suspected he could be dyslexic. The hard part is what you've noticed - that symptoms of multiple things overlap. Dyslexia can look a lot like a vision problem and Irlen Syndrome has many of the same symptoms too.

 

What I would suggest is pursue as many of the evaluations that you can afford, and then make some decisions. We were able to get an Irlen evaluation for less than $100. Their evaluator said DS did in fact have Irlen Syndrome, and recommended a goldenrod (orange) overlay. DS used these for awhile, but we didn't see any improvement in his reading. Our plan was to perhaps do lenses if it helped, but it really didn't.

 

For vision therapy, you should definitely get an evaluation by a developmental optometrist. We did, and it turns out DS had pretty hefty convergence insufficiency (eyes not converging on things appropriately). A colored overlay is not going to fix that - but vision therapy has helped a lot.

 

I do know a few people whose children have benefited greatly from colored Irlen overlays and lenses - it just didn't work for mine. But I would go ahead and have your child screened - it is certainly a simpler and less time consuming intervention than vision therapy - which is pretty brutal for most kids, including mine. Vision therapy can also be quite expensive if you don't have insurance coverage.

 

Bottom line is - get the evaluations. See what they say. Do research on both and follow your instincts about what you believe is best for your child. Good luck and HTH!

[kolamum]

Thank you for being honest.

 

That's what I'm worried about, I'm worried the coloured deal won't "fix" the wrong, but I'm open to having the evals done.

[herekittykitty]

It might not, but for some I think the Irlen Lenses are all that is needed. I have a friend whose son uses them and they've been like a miracle for him. You just never know, so like I said I'd do both evals. We are currently paying about $100/session of VT, so I feel your pain! It's been hard to swallow, but it really has been worth it. I would try not to think about everything down the road and just get the evals first. If VT is needed, our place takes Care Credit (interest free credit) and does do payment plans, so maybe there would be options for you.

[laundrycrisis]

Irlen lenses only help with Irlen syndrome. They won't do anything for eye teaming or visual processing problems. VT won't do anything for Irlen syndrome. There are people who can benefit from both, or one treatment but not the other, but one does not take the place of the other.

[prairiewindmomma]

Ditto everybody else. My ds still benefits from using yellow overlays, but we saw the most improvement through putting him through vision therapy with a COVD doctor. He had both convergence insufficiency (picked up by a ped opthamologist) and tracking issues (missed by the ped opthamologist).

[MerryAtHope]

I had a friend who had several colors of overlays and borrowed them. I think Diane Craft might sell some too. My son tried several & chose one that helped a bit but wasn't a huge difference. But as HKK noted above--overlays are not going to help for some specific vision processing issues like convergence insufficience and so on (my son was diagnosed with that and a couple of other issues as well). VT helped him immensely though it was very difficult in the process! I'm glad we did it.

 

It seems to me that having the evaluations done and seeing what the diagnoses are would help you decide what to do.

 

Merry :-)