Reading with Dyslexia and Irlen Syndrome Made Easier with Kindle

I don’t say much about it, but my eyes are jacked up. When I was 14 years old I found out that I have dyslexia coupled with Irlen syndrome.

What does that mean? For me it meant reading took a tremendous about of effort. I got headaches that progressed into migraines as I got older. The sheen on the textbook pages was hideous, the florescent lights in the classrooms didn’t help any, and there was very little to be done about it. I continued through school without finding much relief and never took joy in reading. It was something that caused me pain. If I fried my eyes from using them too long, I couldn’t see anything for days. The world turned into a blurry mess. It was like I had tears in my eyes that I couldn’t blink away. It was bad. The only way I’d read a book for fun was if the content of the book outweigh the pain caused by reading. As you can imagine, that didn’t happen too often. Getting smacked in the head with a brick sounded more appealing.

To try and deal with my eyes, I read in the dark, put a shadow over the page with my arm, used Irlen lenses, overlays, and tried to avoid florescent lights. All those things helped a little bit, but it was a drop in the bucket compared to how jacked-up my eyes were.

Fast forward to two years ago, Christmas. My husband decided he wanted a kindle. I didn’t have any interest in one at the time. It was questionable as to whether or not reading on the screen would make my vision difficulties worse. Actually, I assumed it would make my eyes worse. When I first started using his Kindle, I didn’t like it. My memory is very tactile and the kindle removes that element from reading. That caused me issues in the beginning, but after 6 months of Kindle use, I adapted to it.

After 18 months of reading books primarily on a kindle, I picked up a paperback that was on sale. It was something that’s on the bestseller list that I’d wanted to read for a while. It was a trade paperback (cream pages, 5″x8″). That kind of book, on that kind of paper, had been the easiest on my eyes.

I didn’t think anything about it when I bought it, but when I got home and started reading-omg! All the old problems (blurred vision, eye strain, halos, floating text, headaches, etc) came rushing back. I didn’t know what happened. Those problems were pretty much gone. I thought maybe my eye had gotten better. Haha! Then, I read the book and a few other paperbacks. Same thing. All the old problems were back. My eyes still sucked. It took me much longer to get through the paper books and needless to say, it wasn’t worth the pain caused to read those books. I didn’t finish any of those series. Maybe I’m a little slow, but it wasn’t until I went back to the kindle that I realized what happened – the kindle makes it easier for me to read.

THE KINDLE MAKES IT EASIER FOR DYSLEXIC ME TO READ.

That is major. I can’t even tell you how major it is. I spent the past thirty years struggling with this and not finding anything that helped to this extent. I don’t get headaches from reading at all anymore. I can read an entire book before my eyes get strained. I can make the font larger (which I do since someone told me that its helpful for dyslexics). The light gray background is easy on the eyes and MUCH better than white or cream paper. There is no glare.

Dudes, I don’t know if you realized this, but paper has a glare. It doesn’t matter what kind of paper it is, there’s a glare. I didn’t see it until I started reading paperbacks again. The kindle screen has less of a glare than a printed page. There are no shadows falling over the words (from the gutter). It makes it so my eyes don’t have to readjust to the light and shadow on every line. The kindle stays flat. The curve of the book tires my eyes faster. And the best thing of all – I can read the kindle in direct sunlight! I can see the words. I can’t read a paperback in direct sunlight. I can’t see anything. It’s like looking at a lit light bulb.

Anyway, I’ve struggled with my vision my entire life. My mom was a reading teacher and took me to other specialists when I was younger, trying to figure out something to help me. After several years, I gave up trying to find anything to help. I stumbled on the Kindle and can’t tell you how glad I am that I found it. I read 4x as many books as I did before and without any pain. I don’t talk about me much and I sure don’t waive around the dyslexia flag, but this is worth sharing. If you have a child that’s struggling with dyslexia or Irlen syndrome the kindle really helps.

Something to notice: I keep saying Kindle. I mean the kind in the picture above. NOT the Fire, not the Nook, not any old ereader. It needs to be an ereader that uses e-ink with a glare-free screen. The e-ink works kind of like an Etch-A-Sketch, but the screen isn’t shiny. It doesn’t glow and it’s easy to see.

Update: The Paperwhite, while practical does create eye strain from glare and from the light source. This kindle has lights (blue hue) in the sides of the casing. They form a grid and illuminate the eink. The problem is that the grid is visible It doesn’t bother most people, but it’s a problem for me. My eyes try to fixate on the gradation throughout the grid. I have to struggle to keep my eyes focused on the words and not the light source. While the Paperwhite is not like reading on a computer screen, it isn’t as easy my eyes as the plain old Kindle. In terms of reading difficulty and headaches, it’s comparable to the Fire.

I also have a Kindle Fire–I can’t read on it. It’s worse than paper. Between the glare and lit screen, it’s worse than reading on the computer screen. The Kindles with e-ink are vision friendly.

If you have a kid in school with dyslexia, try it. The basic Kindle is under $70. That’s cheaper than a pair of glasses. Many of the books kids read in school are available on kindle. Some are even free. I wish I had a Kindle sooner. It’s nice to enjoy reading without feeling like my eyes are trying to kill me.

To those of you struggling with dyslexia, Irlen syndrome, or other things–don’t give up. Just because you aren’t mainstream, doesn’t mean you’re not awesome. We just have to learn to tailor things, so that we can do them too. And in case you didn’t realize it, I was a reader-hater and turned into a bestselling author. I love to read now. I just didn’t know it back then. Don’t give up.

Here is a link to my favorite KINDLE on Amazon. It’s light, small, and has a great battery life. It’s the one pictured above.