Most worrying is that these simple coloured sheets may provide false hope in a struggling reader and result in feelings of discouragement when this intervention fails to deliver the promised results. In cerebellar patients he had shown that their unstable vision was due to damage to large nerve cells in the brain, known as visual magnocells, that are specialised for detecting movement. When these magnocells are not working properly the servo system that keeps your eyes fixed on a letter fails, and so the letters appear to move around. So with Sue he set up a clinic to investigate whether children's visual reading problems were due to the same cause.

Please note the colours shown in the pictures may not be an exact representation of the colour in real life. The main aim of DRT research into visual and auditory weaknesses in poor readers is to develop treatments that will help them, and to prove by properly controlled trials that they work. We have shown that simple treatments such as viewing text through blue or yellow coloured filters, musical training or eating oily fish, really can help children to learn to read. Contrary to the coloured lenses research that was conducted in 1999, coloured overlays can be looked upon as controversial. This is because, in an experiment conducted where some participants were asked to read text without an overlay and then with an overlay, there was no significant difference between the reading speeds for either method. For example, Emily, aged 7 when the experiment took place, had a reading speed of 49 correct words per minute (CWPM) without an overlay and 48 CWPM with the overlay. The overlays being referred to as dyslexia overlays can also be considered controversial because they do not only help people with dyslexia, but they can also be beneficial for people with dyspraxia and AD(H)D. What Colour Overlay is Best for Dyslexia? While the use of this unsupported intervention may not pose an imminent harm, use of coloured lenses and filters might deprive people affected by dyslexia of effective interventions such as targeted phonics instruction, as well as waste valuable time and resources associated with gaining a prescription for coloured lens or sheets.Symptoms such as these have a variety of different causes, some of which may be due to disease or abnormality, so they must be investigated by a professional who is qualified to diagnose them correctly and give appropriate treatment. Anyone who experiences such difficulties associated with reading should consult a registered optometrist for a full assessment of eye health and visual function.

Bright blue light can also improve auditory attention, suggesting that the effects of light on alertness and attention are automatic and not mediated by conscious visual perception. Rather they are mediated by this retino-hypothalamic synchronising system. Coloured Filters Olive Meares in Australia was the first to suggest that children with visual reading difficulties may see print more easily through certain coloured filters. This was taken up commercially in the USA and UK. But these systems require that each child is individually prescribed a special colour; so the glasses tend to cost a lot! However since the visual magnocellular system is mainly influenced by just yellow or blue light, John & Sue argue that these are the only two colours that will really make much difference. That being said, here are a few popular brands and technologies that are commonly associated with dyslexia glasses and lenses: Some people experience visual discomfort or disturbance when they read. Common symptoms that may significantly impair reading ability, or make reading very tiring, include: Blue filters can be even more effective. Joe Taylor showed that they probably work in a different way; because blue can affect the brain unconsciously. From the grainy two-dimensional images that are projected onto our retinae, and projected to the visual cortex via the retino-geniculate pathway, the brain creates a conscious vivid and detailed three-dimensional visual experience. But blue projects to other important pathways running from the eyes deep into a primitive part of the brain called the hypothalamus; this controls powerful physiological systems that regulate our diurnal rhythms: when we wake up, the daily rise and fall of our blood pressure, energy and hormone levels, that we are hardly aware of. Melanopsin retinal ganglion cells and their projections (melanopsin RGCs)There are different types of colour filters that can aid reading for people with dyslexia. Find out all about dyslexic glasses and overlays here. How do Tinted Glasses and Lenses Work? According to a teenager mentioned in ‘Reading Through Colour’ (2003) by Professor Arnold Wilkins, using a coloured overlay when reading “made all the difference.” The teenager quoted his experience as “the most important moment of [his] life” and he could “see text clear as glass.” The vision screening that most children undergo at school entry (age 4 to 5) is only a test of whether a child can see clearly in the distance. It is not a comprehensive assessment of eyes or vision and does not test any of the functions required for clear and comfortable vision when reading. For this reason, every child should have a full sight test when they start school, and as frequently as recommended by their optometrist after that.