An Interview With Cheryl Mitchell about Irlen Syndrome

Welcome to the leADDership brief
A weekly newsletter for creative and innovative people, like you, with ADHD who want timely, helpful, and interesting resources
for leading and living well with ADHD.

Dear Readers,

I am so excited to bring you this edition of the leADDership brief!

It’s something new and fresh both as an approach to the newsletter and as helpful and potentially life changing content.

My dear friend and colleague, Cheryl Mitchell, sat down with me last week to talk about a perceptual processing disorder called Irlen Syndrome. Around 50% of children and adults with reading, learning, or attention problems have Irlen Syndrome. For some, the Irlen Method is the solution.

I had no idea what Irlen Syndrome and Irlen Method was until I met Cheryl and she mentioned it on a call one day. I was immediately fascinated and wanted to know more. Cheryl graciously obliged and invited me to observe a screening and has provided helpful resources and answered all my questions over the years.

I am thrilled to be able to bring Cheryl’s expertise, experience, and insights to you today as an audio interview you can download and listen to.

Here are a few key points to keep in mind as you. listen to the interview:

Over 20 years ago, research directed by Helen Irlen under a federal research grant studied methods of helping children and adults with reading and learning disabilities. One important discovery was that a subgroup of individuals showed a marked improvement in their reading ability when reading material was covered by colored acetate sheets. For the next five years, Ms. Irlen worked on refining her discovery, developing diagnostic testing instruments, and patenting a set of colored filters.
According to the Irlen Institute as many as one third of people diagnosed with ADHD may suffer from Irlen Syndrome. Research has shown that Irlen Spectral Filters will alleviate attention problems for people with ADHD. The Irlen Method is noninvasive and in some cases, individuals wear Irlen Spectral Filters in addition to taking medication but may need less medication to stay focused and attentive. About 33% of those of us with attention, concentration, starting tasks, completing tasks, sitting still, and working under fluorescent lights can be helped by the Irlen Method.
The symptoms of Irlen Syndrome are wide-ranging, but the technology focuses on one core problem: the brain’s inability to process visual information, specifically color.

Cheryl, a professional Irlen Syndrome Screener, trained and certified under Founder and Executive Director Helen Irlen at the institutes international headquarters in Long Beach, California. She's been screening and changing the lives of children and adults for 23 years.

Cheryl is a sought after speaker, educator, mentor, blogger, and one of the best developers of people I know.

With almost 30 years of leadership development and training experience, Cheryl is known for her dedication and desire to help individuals and organizations reach their full potential and achieve the success they are working towards.

She is currently the Director of Management Operations for Starfire Industries, a company that provides industry changing plasma source and particle accelerator solutions world wide.

Here’s our interview: