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Controversial Irlen Syndrome advocate pushes for screening in Alberta schools

9/27/2013

1 Comment

 
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    By Keith Gerein, Edmonton Journal - September 25, 2013


    Controversial Irlen Syndrome advocate pushes for screening in Alberta
      schools



    EDMONTON - The Alberta school system should mandate screening for a
      little-known neuro-processing disorder, even though much of the medical
      community questions its existence, a controversial American researcher told
    MLAs  Wednesday.


    Helen Irlen, the California-based academic for whom Irlen Syndrome is named,
      spoke to a legislature committee debating a contentious bill that would require
      teachers who recognize symptoms of the disorder to recommend to parents that a
      child be officially tested.


    “The majority of the population does not have Irlen Syndrome and so the
      symptoms to them make absolutely no sense, and then they can’t believe in it,” 
    Irlen told committee members. “If the school system doesn’t do it, nobody is
      going to do it.”


    Irlen Syndrome, also known as scotopic sensitivity or visual stress syndrome,
      is described as a neurological problem in which the brain’s capacity to make
      sense of visual information is corrupted by an inability to properly process
    the  light spectrum. The condition is said to produce a variety of symptoms but
    is  most often noticed through difficulty in reading. Sufferers frequently
    complain  about letters blurring together or moving around on the page because
    of the  syndrome, which is said to be often mistaken for dyslexia or attention
    deficit  hyperactivity disorder.


    The issue is treated by wearing custom-made tinted lenses that are formulated
      by the Irlen Institute in California.


    However, much of the medical and academic community is skeptical about the
      condition. The proposed Alberta legislation, known as the Irlen Syndrome
    Testing  Act, has drawn opposition from optometrists and ophthalmologists, the
    College of  Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, and others characterizing it as
      ill-conceived legislation not backed up by credible scientific evidence.


    The Alberta College of Optometrists, which also made a presentation to MLAs
      Wednesday, argued the credible research on the subject has found no evidence of
      a widespread syndrome and cast serious doubts on the long-term benefits of the
      Irlen treatment method. Furthermore, they suggested the bill could be dangerous
      in that it might result in a large number of false positive results,
    potentially  blocking the diagnosis of more common vision or neurological
    abnormalities.


    However, Irlen dismissed such concerns, spending most of her presentation
      trying to debunk that research while touting other studies that support the
      Irlen Syndrome diagnosis and treatment method.


    “You can make research say anything you want it to,” she said.


    In a later interview, she acknowledged that such duelling research makes it
      difficult for people to know what to believe. But she said the best evidence
      comes from parents who have seen their children’s lives changed when they
      receive the coloured overlays or lenses that help them overcome their learning
      troubles.


    About 15 of those parents and a few children were in the committee room
      Wednesday, many of them wearing lenses of blue, orange or grey.


    “I’d say that 80 to 90 per cent of the individuals we see come to us to
      because they are referred not from professionals but from other parents who
    have  been helped,” Irlen said.


    She said she came to Alberta because the proposed legislation would be
      precedent setting for Canada. A similar bill is in the works in
      Massachusetts.


    The Alberta bill is sponsored by veteran Progressive Conservative MLA Mary
      Anne Jablonski, whose grandson was diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome.


    At one point on Wednesday, Jablonski got into a heated exchange with a pair
      of optometrists who suggested Irlen Syndrome would suffer the same fate as
    other  questionable “miracle cures.”


    “This is just another little bubble that will go away as other have,” Calgary
      optometrists Margaret Penny said.


    “You are so wrong,” Jablonski replied.


    “It’s not based on science,” Penny shot back.


    The Alberta School Boards Association also spoke against the bill, saying the
      province should not single out one condition in legislation from other issues
      children have.


    kgerein@edmontonjournal.com
    © 
    Copyright (c) The Edmonton Journal


    If you want to have Irlen testing added to teacher’s recommendations as a possible intervention for parents to pursue for children who are struggling at school please write your local MLA.
      This is urgent as in October the Committee will be deciding whether or not to
      defeat Bill 204 or recommend that it go back to the legislature so it can be
      passed. 

  •  



1 Comment
Margaret Wiebe
10/13/2014 01:36:01 pm

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