title: Irlen colored overlays do not alleviate reading difficulties.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test the efficacy of Irlen colored overlays for alleviating reading difficulties ostensibly caused by Irlen syndrome, a proposed perceptual disorder with controversial diagnostic status.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-one schoolchildren (aged 7-12 years) with reading difficulties were assessed by an Irlen diagnostician. We used a within-subject study design to examine differences in reading rate across 3 conditions: using an overlay of a prescribed color; using an overlay of a nonprescribed color; and using no overlay. In a subset of 44 children, all of whom had a diagnosis of Irlen syndrome, we also used a between-group design to test the effects of Irlen colored overlays on a global reading measure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Irlen diagnostician diagnosed Irlen syndrome in 77% of our poor readers. We found no evidence for any immediate benefit of Irlen colored overlays as measured by the reading-rate test or the global reading measure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that Irlen colored overlays do not have any demonstrable immediate effect on reading in children with reading difficulties.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, University of Edinburgh, 7 George Square, Edinburgh EH8 9JZ, United Kingdom. stuartjritchie1@gmail.com
authors.forename: Stuart J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Ritchie
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Della Sala
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: McIntosh
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D003116:Color; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011932:Reading; D013577:Syndrome; D017211:Treatment Failure; D014796:Visual Perception