Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Board learns of SSS syndrome

It's all about light, and the problems light can cause when it comes to learning.

This is what Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome is all about. SSS, as it is known, is a perceptual dysfunction associated with the brain's ability to accurately process visual information.

SSS is also known to cause students learning problems, as what they see seldom has anything to do with what's written on the page.

This is what members of the Prescott School Board were told Tuesday, Aug. 22, at the regular meeting.

Sheila Virden and June Johnson attended a reading style workshop during the summer in which SSS was discussed.

Johnson said SSS is found in 46 percent of those identified with reading problems, and the syndrome deals with the way the brain receives light.

Virden told the board it's a form of perceptual dysfunction, as the brain is unable to properly process information.

Part of the problem, she said, is the glare of white light. When this is removed, by means of colored transparencies, the situation improves.

However, the same color won't work for everyone.

The highlight of the conference, Virden said, was meeting the woman responsible for developing the manual for SSS screening, Dorothy Henson-Parker, a clinical psychologist.

Parker, she said, told them how the program could be implemented and how the district could save money in training.

Parker would be brought up to do the training, Virden said, at a cost of $600 per day plus travel expense, with the materials to cost $85 per teacher.

But, she said, all teachers wouldn't need to be trained.

The program, Virden said, needs to be in all three schools, though.

Prescott High School Principal Steve Britton addressed the board, telling of his recent cataract surgery.

Following the surgery, he said, he, too, showed signs of SSS, as he experienced problems reading.

Britton approached Virden and Johnson asking to take the test, with the results showing he was experiencing SSS. Once his color was found, he said, the results were immediate.

"I felt a weight lift from my shoulders," he said.

Approximately 100 students in PHS have been identified as suffering from SSS, with some having been tested.

Those who have SSS tend to hate reading. This, Virden said, is because what's on the page and what they see are entirely different.

Britton said those students tested hated reading before the test, but now enjoy it, having found their "color."

Virden said those with SSS see the letters all over the page, even though they know they aren't where they're being seen. This makes it difficult for them to read.

Letters are "seen" to be backwards or even upside down by the person with the syndrome.

An example was given of a second grade girl who had been diagnosed with SSS. Prior to the testing her scores on the comprehensive test of basic skills were low, ranking in the 37th percentile nationally on vocabulary and comprehension.

However, after being tested for SSS and retaking the basic skills test using her "color," the girl's scores rose to the 95th percentile in vocabulary and the 91st percentile in comprehension, with an overall total in the 96th percentile nationally.

All this, Virden said, because she used a colored sheet of plastic on top of the test papers.

Britton said the program needs to be implemented in Prescott, and the district may need to see if the area education cooperatives would be interested in a seminar, and possibly helping fund the training