09/03/2026
My Irlen Story
For as long as I can remember, I knew reading was harder for me than it seemed to be for others. I was always a slow reader. Before high school, I actually begged my mom to let me take a speed-reading class. In that class, they taught us to use our finger or a card to guide our eyes across the page to keep them moving. That strategy helped, and it’s how I’ve read ever since.
Over the years I collected a few different diagnoses that seemed to explain parts of my experience. In graduate school, I was diagnosed with idiopathic hypersomnolence and prescribed a stimulant, but it made me extremely anxious. Later, as an adult in the working world, my hypersomnolence improved when my thyroid condition was treated. Then about two years ago, I was diagnosed with adult ADHD.
Looking back, there were always other signs that something about the way I processed visual information was different. I grew up in a family of softball players, but I ran cross country and swam instead because my depth perception wasn’t good. Changes in lighting in a room really bothered me, and night driving was something I always struggled with.
Then I put on Irlen lenses.
The change was immediate and honestly hard to put into words. The best way I can describe it is this: before, the world felt like watching a movie with a painted backdrop hanging behind the actors. When I put on the lenses, it was like switching to a high-definition screen with a real, fully dimensional set.
Suddenly I could see depth in a way I never had before.
On hikes, I started noticing details in the landscape that I had never seen before. I drive with much more confidence, both during the day and at night. Reading has completely changed for me—I can move through books and scholarly articles with a speed and level of understanding I never experienced before. Even when I’m playing French horn in my band, I no longer get lost in the sheet music the way I used to.
Irlen lenses have truly changed how I experience the world. They’re now a part of my everyday life—I simply live in them.
