What is Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome?
Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome has been defined as a visual perceptual problem and difficulty in processing the full spectrum of light. It occurs not only when someone is reading but could have profound effects on the various ways in which people interact with their world. For example, sports performance, music performance, and driving are all potential areas of problems for individuals who have Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome. It does not only occur in people who have perfect vision and it also occurs in both sexes as well as at any age. Because the individual has difficulty processing the full spectrum of light, often the printed page can become distorted or have other "special effects" which makes reading intensely difficult. |
How many people have Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome?
It has been estimated that in the general population approximately 15% of individuals have Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome in some form or another. Of the individuals who have been diagnosed as having a Learning Disability of some form, 50% are said to also have Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome or just misdiagnosed Learning Disability.
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What Causes SSS?
The causes of SSS are not completely known, however, researchers are lead to believe that it can be causes by a structural brain deficit involving the central nervous system, or genetic factors with the majority of individuals having at least one parent with the disorder as well. The only difference between dyslexia's causes and Scotopic's causes is that in SSS males and females are affected by the disorder equally whereas dyslexia affects mainly males. According to some researchers, the disorder can be caused by a defect in one of the visual pathways that carry messages from the eye to the brain and that this defect causes a timing fault in processing visual information. |
What are the Symptoms of Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome?
The symptoms of Scotopic Sensitivity cluster under five different major areas, including light sensitivity, inadequate background accommodation, poor print resolution, restricted span of recognition, and lack of sustained attention. Most individuals who have been diagnosed with this disorder have some of the symptoms in at least one or two of these five major areas.
- Light Sensitivity -- This refers to the sensitivity to glare, brightness, and certain lighting conditions (especially fluorescent lighting, bright sunlight, haze and overcast). When these people read under florescent lighting they can have adverse effects such as dizziness, restlessness, headaches, even migraines. These people usually want to read under dim lighting although some like a lot of lighting and will probably try to shade their page from any possible glare they might receive from the lighting that is present. Light sensitivity makes people very fatigued, which will reduce their energy levels which is why a majority of these individuals fall asleep while reading. As these individuals get older, they may find it hard to drive at night because of oncoming traffic and street lights. They may also find it hard to be a passenger, becoming drowsy while in a car and feeling like they will fall asleep while they are behind the wheel.
- Inadequate Background Accommodation -- This means that the individual has a hard time dealing with high contrasts, such as those between black and white. People who experience this have a hard time with these two colours because the background is trying to compete for their attention with the background sometimes taking over so that the letters lose their distinctness. It is not uncommon for periods, commas, and dots for i's to disappear as well as letters becoming interchangeable so that letters such as b, d, and p become easily confused (one of the characteristics of traditional dyslexia). Some people say that it is hard for them to concentrate and stay on task when they experience something like a wash-out effect (See How a Person with SSS Sees a Printed Page). Because of this problem these individuals might have to reread a passage four or five times before they are able to catch all of the words that are in it. This makes reading rate inefficient and tiring. Other things can happen to the background as well. Colours can appear, lights can flash like lightning, and the white background can blink. Some people who experience lettering which looks like neon signs. All of this certainly makes reading a tough chore that is not favoured among individuals with SSS.
- Poor Print Resolution -- This involves trouble reading print easily and automatically because letters, numbers, and symbols change in size, shape, and often can be seen as moving about the page. They could vibrate, dance, pulsate, jiggle, shift, shimmer, move, disappear (but generally collapse onto each other), turn around, fade, or just drop off the page. This phenomenon makes eyes fatigued, as well as the person just losing interest because they have tried to read the passage over and over and over again to no avail in deciphering the moving symbols. Another phenomenon that may take place is that when a person is reading a passage, surrounding words refuse to stay in place, causing the reader to have difficulty tracking, concentrating, and therefore comprehending the passage. The words the individual is reading may be stable but the words surrounding it may be unstable, moving or disappearing as the case may be. For individuals who experience poor print resolution there could be a number of different things happening to the lettering. Some of these things include tilting, stretching, overlapping, running into each other, or rotating. All of these can occur separately or together in any combination but the more that occurs the harder it will be for a person to read or comprehend written language. Check out How a Person with SSS Sees a Printed Page for examples of how a person with SSS may view a printed page. These effects are incredible to see and it astounds me that these individuals can even read.
- Restricted Span of Recognition -- This involves a difficulty reading groups of letters, notes, numerals or words at the same time. This is known as tunnel reading and these individuals lack the capability to move from line to line, copy, proofread, skim or speed read. These individuals need things to be written in short columns in order for them to read and copy down proficiently. These individuals have a tendency to overuse phonics when spelling and while reading a book that is not in smaller columns it will be difficult for them to decode and comprehend.
- Lack of Sustained Attention -- This is the inability to concentrate while doing tasks. These individuals have to make reading a chore and a job in order for them to keep the words readable and understandable. The longer someone with SSS reads the more difficult it becomes and the more tired and frustrated they get the less work they will accomplish. Individuals with SSS need to take many breaks while they are reading in order to try to regain some of the stamina it takes them to read.
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What Can I Look For if I Suspect Someone to Have SSS?
- Reading in dim or excessive light
- Seemingly bothered by light or glare
- May have reddened, watery eyes
- Complaints of frequent headaches after reading
- May fall asleep while reading
- Complaints of blurry, fuzzy words
- Words disappear or move around the page
- They must incorporate a number of compensatory techniques in order to read (these include moving further away from the book, squinting, shading the page, opening their eyes wide open, moving their head, squirming around in their seat trying to find the perfect position, or they may be unable to skim/speed read)
- Complaints of eye tiredness, strain, slow reading rate, inefficient reading
- Poor reading comprehension
- Inability to read continuously
- While writing they make errors copying
- Difficulty writing on the line (may write up and down on a hill)
- During math these individuals may display sloppiness, difficulty seeing the numbers or they misalign numbers in the correct column
- May have difficulty on stairs and escalators by not being able to distinguish each step as its own individual step
- Appear to be clumsy by walking into table edges and judging distances
- Difficulty in reading sheets of music
- Appear to be clumsy when playing sports or doing physical activities
- May appear to have attention deficits
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How Do I Know if I Have SSS?
Based on the findings Helen Irlen made when researching SSS she developed a questionnaire which she coined with the term Differential Perceptual Schedule (IDPS). The Schedule consists of questions related to the five categories mentioned above plus one other called depth perceptual problems. After carefully making a self-diagnosis or a diagnosis loosely based on answers from certain general questions -- Sample Questionnaire -- one may be screened by a professional Irlen trained clinician. There are three stages in the screening process. During the first stage a person is asked a series of questions in order to develop a rapport to see if there is any remote possibility of the individual actually having SSS and not other visual disorders that can be corrected by an optometrist. The kinds of questions asked include yes and no questions such as these:
- Do you skip words or lines when reading?
- Do you reread lines?
- Do you lose your place while reading?
- Are you easily distracted while reading?
- Do you need to take breaks often?
- Do you find it harder to read the longer you read?
- Do you get headaches when you read?
- Do your eyes get red and watery?
- Does reading make you tired?
- Do you blink or squint?
- Do you prefer to read in dim light or excessively bright light?
- Do you read close to the page?
- Do you use your finger or other markers on the page?
- Do you get restless, active, or fidgety when reading?
If there is reason to believe you may have SSS after completing this survey you move onto step number two. Step two involves using meticulously constructed pen and paper tests to actually test for SSS. Three of these include the following. One involves looking at a 3D block with lines running down and across two sides of it. What you have to do in this exercise is, without using your fingers as guides, count the number of little boxes going down two sides of the block. This number is then recorded by the clinician along with any additional comments. The second activity involved a sheet with a jack-o-lantern on it with percent signs running from side to side. What you are asked to do in this case is count the number of percent signs (%) there are between the two eyes. The third task involves a sheet of music with a black dot in the middle of it. You are asked to look at the dot and describe what is seen around it on the page. All of your answers are scaled from 0-15 with 15 being most severe and 0 being the mildest. The higher your score the more problems with SSS you have.
After this stage is over and if you are considered to have SSS then you move onto the final stage - stage three. This is the stage where they test for the colour and type of overlays. There is a wide range of overlays available to a person with SSS and every person is different. For some it will only take one overlay but for others it could take three to four to improve reading for the person. For the individual with SSS they will notice a difference as soon as the overlay is laid down on the page. By using the overlays it will also become apparent which skills will be corrected with the overlays and which ones will continue to be problematic for the person. During this stage the screener will have a sheet of Dutch writing in front of them and will put a colour overlay on each side. The person then reads the work then combines the overlays until the most suitable combination is found. The combination of overlays can be made into lenses called Irlen lenses. These are spectrally modified to meet an individuals specific need and there are over 140 possible variations of colours for the lenses. |
What are the Treatments for SSS and Can you Cure it?
You cannot cure this disorder. However, in 90% of the cases which have been treated using the Irlen lenses mentioned above, life including reading, sports, music, driving, etc has been greatly enhanced when using the lenses and overlays. The ones who are greatly affected positively by using the overlays say they help immediately after putting them on. There is usually no adjustment period to using them and if an individual has a prescription for near or far-sightedness that prescription can be placed right into the Irlen lenses. Individuals who use them usually experience gains in reading comprehension, an increase in attention span, an increase in reading speed, better depth perception, reduced eye strain symptoms, reduced headaches and better night vision.
Remediation also helps. |
If you have any other questions which aren't answered on this FAQ, please visit the Irlen Syndrome Network's FAQ page and if the answers you are seeking aren't there email them to me and I will add them to these pages. |
