PSUSD teachers, staff get hands on training on Irlen Syndrome

Teachers and staff with the Palm Springs Unified School District are getting trained on identifying a condition that’s causing some students to struggle with reading.

It may look like multiple job interviews are being done at the PSUSD offices. People are face to face talking, but a closer look reveals they’re training to identify Irlen Syndrome.

“It is a visual processing problem and it can impact up to 12 to 14 percent of the general education population,” Sheryl Deeds, a school psychologist said.

It’s a condition staff says can make it hard for a student to read, as letters can be blurred or disoriented.
Julie Marko, a teacher from Julius Corsini Elementary, said she’s seen it in one of her students.

“She does a lot of reversals in her reading and she doesn’t really want to participate in my group or even in the classroom,” Marko said.

The issue can be managed with colored overlays making it easier for students to read. Marko said she has already seen positive results in that same student.

“When I saw the difference in just her attitude, and her smile, I thought, oh my gosh. She’s going to have a better reading progress in the future,” she said.

School psychologists say that this condition can happen to any student no matter how good their eye sight is as it mostly affect the way the brain processes images through the eyes.”

“You can wear glasses ,not wear glasses, astigmatism, color blindness. None of those things matter because it’s a brain processing issue,” Deeds said.

By providing a solution, the hope is it’ll make a difference in the lives student’s like Marko’s.

“I think she’s going to feel better about coming to school. She’ll want to get up and feel better about herself and maybe start sharing with her friends,” she said.