I just wanted to share my recent amazing discovery....

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I just wrote this in the thread "Academic difficulties with autism" but I wanted to share it with you all because I can't express what an amazing and positive experience this discovery has been for me. And maybe someone else will find their answer too.

I only discovered recently that I have Irlen Syndrome (or Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome) which is very common with ASD. It is characterized mainly by difficulty reading, light/contrast sensitivity and poor depth/distance perception.

I've always LOVED learning but hated reading because it was just SO tiring trying to keep the words from sliding off the pages. I knew I didn't have dyslexia (my spelling is awesome and I wasn't missing words/letters) but entire sections of text would disappear when I looked directly at it, or move up and down making it impossible to follow a line.

I have always been a very slow reader and so had trouble keeping up with school text deadlines and reading aloud in classes. The cognitive exhaustion from reading more than a couple of pages at a time was immense.

Last month I got a pink transparency to put over my pages as I read books, and for the first time in my life I am reading books by choice. Its amazing and exciting and now I can't stop Hello new special interest

That's excellent! It sounds like a dramatic improvement.

Good for you! Now you can experience the immense pleasure in hoarding information. Yikes, an aspie who can't research. That seems like it could've been rough.

I was like that without my glasses and meds. I probably need some tinted lenses but then again...Bono. Do not want to look like Bono.

To quote myself from another topic ("Do you ever find it hard to concentrate on reading?" in the "Art, Writing, and Music" forum):

I used to have a lot of trouble reading text on those old flickering analog televisions but now with the new flat panel TV's and computer moniters reading text is a lot easier for me.

i must, must have this. everything with high color contrast that i look at moves .. and sometimes it's nearly impossible to read. is there any way to get assessed inexpensively?

i have tried to read with variously colored clear file folders (cheap at office stores) over the page but the glare interferes so much they aren't a help.

I've heard this sort of thing used with dyslexia, cool something that simple can help.

I do wonder if I have something 'wrong' with me in terms of issues like dyslexia, I'm no where near as bad as others, but certainly their are issues with missing out letters when writing or getting letters mixed-up when reading words, poor balance and depth perception, and I have some issues with reading...I do wonder if something like this could be helpful for me.

wordsten d t o l o o k likethiswhen I read. I also see read spaces in between.

But it has always looked like that and I am very good at dealing with it. It would be nice to be able to read without having to deal with that and the nausea (sometimes the shift from normal text to that train wreck above makes me feel sick). I have wanted to see if tinted lenses would help. Even if it ends up doing nothing, at least I will have tried something, right? I have noticed that reading in dim light or turning the brightness and contrast down on my laptop help.

i have heard of irline filters but have wondered where to get them

I wonder what they are. Anyone have a link? And is it just for books or also computers?

Very nice! Enjoy your steps into a world where written words aren't trying to punish you.

Damn! This is me !

Always had photosensitivity, but never linked it to my troubles reading!

I can't read words on glossed pages, especially if the light is on them. Or, normal pages if it's light. My classmates don't seem to have the same problem.