People with Irlen Syndrome may suffer from a range of distortions. These may be on the page, computer and white boards when trying to read but they may also be in the environment.
Distortions on the page include:
- Words moving in various ways
- Words fading, disappearing, swirling and blurring
- Coloured patterns and shapes which can move
- The white of the page dominating, pulsating, moving
- Flickering or flashing lights
- White patterns and shapes which can move
- Problems with white and/or coloured patterns and shapes
- Sparkles & auras around words and images
- Letters and words floating, changing size, going 3D, fading
- Words merging or having too much space
- Lines of words waving
You can see below some examples of distortions on the printed page that are experienced by people with Irlen Syndrome.




Distortions in the environment include:
- Lack of perspective and depth
- Blurriness
- Objects moving in various ways
- Glare and brightness from certain colours
- Patterns moving, blurring, changing
- Glare and light shining off objects
- Sparkles and auras around objects
- Difficulty judging distances, heights and speeds
- Auras and after effects with moving objects