"Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome"

Abstract of a paper by Summer Hall

   The problem identified for my project is the fact that a full 25% of Americans are functionally illiterate.
As a special education student, I was very interested when I came across a book that discussed Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome (SSS), a syndrome that may contribute to 12% of our illiteracy problem. I know that students in special education struggle with reading more than students in regular education. I wanted to devise an experiment that would allow me to determine if SSS could be disproportionally affecting special education students.
   I had each subject start by reading from a passage without a filter while I timed them. Then, I had the subject read a different passage using the colored filters used in the treatment of SSS.
   My findings were amazing. The 50 special education students gained 333 seconds using the colored filters. The regular education students gained only 148. Further, from the poorer readers I heard comments like "Oh, that's better" or "Wow!" Among the better readers, comments such as "do I have to use this?" and "this gets between me and the words" were heard.
The most significant conclusion I reached in my project was that some students in special education may be there needlessly with an undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed, treatable syndrome.

Junior Level, Second Place, Summer Hall; Del Dios Middle School, Grade 8.
Advisor: Janet Nordeen