Visual Stress

Visual Stress is the term used to describe exaggerated discomfort or distortion that some patients experience. This condition occurs in about 12%, of the general population but is even more common amongst dyslexics. It is also often found in some persons who suffer from migraine or photosensitive epilepsy.  Visual Stress was first described in 1980 by Olive Meares, a teacher in New Zealand. She noticed that some children’s reading ability improved when using a coloured sheet of paper. This concept was further developed by Helen Irlen.  Visual Stress has been called Meares-Irlen Syndrome after these two pioneers. Recent scientific literature has preferred to use the term Visual Stress as this gives a clear indication of what the condition’s symptoms are.

Visual Stress  is often triggered by striped patterns which have a high contrast frequency (difference between darkest black and the whitest white), for example striped shirts or even escalators! Fluorescent lighting is known to cause susceptible people discomfort due to its imperceptible flicker. Reading, as you can imagine, is a key trigger to those people who have Visual Stress because not only is text striped horizontally, but each letter is in fact made up of many vertical strokes (the word  mum is one of the more stressful words that a young  child will read!)

In the past 25 years there have been significant strides forward in both our understanding of this syndrome and how to alleviate its symptoms but nevertheless the subject area remains controversial. Diagnosing visual stress is is assisted by carrying out a test for Pattern Glare and analysing patients' symptoms.  To find out if colour will help a particular patient, a screening is carried out using Intuitive Overlays or a computerised version, both of which we use at Barnard Levit. After a trial with a specific colour, if the overlay helped, Intuitive Colorimetry is carried out to diagnose the exact, often very specific colour specifications of a Cerium Precision tint which is prescribed as spectacles (or sometimes contact lenses). Visual Stress and dyslexia can sometimes be aquired, for example, after trauma and tinted lenses can be effective in helping patients. See Testimonials.

The optometrists at Barnard Levit,have a keen interest in this area. Professor Barnard has had an interest in paediatric optometry and the visual correlates of specific learning difficulties for over thirty years, was formerly the Director of Paediatric Clinics at City University and is a Visiting Professor at Hadassah College, Jerusalem, Israel where he helped develop the Masters optometry degree courses in Paediatrics and the Visual Correlates of Dyslexia.   Professor Barnard is an accredited member of the Society for Coloured Lens Prescribers www.s4clp.org

Any further questions on visual stress may be addressed to reception@barnardlevit.com