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In 1999, British scientists carried out clinical trials that “found that coloured lenses could help people with visual dyslexia.” 400 children participated in the most recent study where “90% reported a significant improvement in reading, writing and comprehension skills” whilst wearing the coloured lenses. Over the 6-month assessment period, the children showed a minimum improvement rate of 45% for their reading, writing and comprehension skills. How Do Coloured Overlays for Dyslexia Work?
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? Research has demonstrated that people with dyslexia often have difficulty processing and representing the specific sounds of language. As a result, someone with dyslexia will experience difficulties in associating printed letters with relevant speech sounds, thus causing reading difficulties. That being said, here are a few popular brands and technologies that are commonly associated with dyslexia glasses and lenses: One side of the overlay has a matt coating. Some matt coatings can reduce transparency, but coloured overlays from Crossbow Education have been subjected to stringent testing to ensure that maximum print clarity is retained while reflected light from the overlay surface has been significantly reduced. Nevertheless, some people prefer using the gloss side of the overlay. But disagreement among researchers still exists over the mechanisms and theory behind the filters’ effects. And debate still rages surrounding the fundamental issue of which colour is needed to achieve optimal results. Myth versus evidenceColoured filters, either worn as spectacles or used as overlays, have been successfully employed in the treatment of dyslexia for many years but there is no agreement about how they work. As we have seen, bright blue light increases the activation of the parts of the brain involved in directing attention, such as the posterior parietal cortex. Abnormal function in these attention-modulating parts of the brain has been implicated in the pathogenesis of dyslexia. It is therefore likely that blue light, selected optimally to recruit melanopsin RGCs, will have the greatest effect on improving alertness and concentration and may therefore be the best for remediating the impaired attentional responses seen in dyslexia.
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. The majority of research on this topic has found little evidence of measurable effects on reading accuracy or comprehension. For example, the American Academy of Paediatrics found little to no evidence supporting the link to visual stress in explaining the reading difficulties of people with dyslexia. 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.”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. Blue light therapy has also been shown to help people with sleeping problems, to improve alertness during night shift work and to help overcome jet lag. This probably also works on the suprachiasmatic nucleus to alter the timing of diurnal rhythms. We found that children whose reading benefitted from wearing blue filters during the day also often reported that their sleeping patterns had improved, and we showed that this was probably due to an effect on the SCN; at night secretion of the sleep hormone, melatonin, which is also under the control of the SCN, can be inhibited by just 15 minutes of blue light ie blue light can reset the SCN rhythms to improve sleeping.
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. The DRT has carried out a randomised control trial that showed that in suitable dyslexic children, wearing blue filters for 3 months improved their reading age by an amazing 9 months. 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. The effectiveness of dyslexia glasses and lenses can vary from person to person, as dyslexia is a complex condition with individual differences.Proponents of this theory say that prescribed coloured eyeglasses or plastic overlays could alleviate perceived visual distortions. It is believed that the removal of this visual stress would improve reading and facilitate the development of reading skills in the longer term and help people with dyslexia. The simplicity of the intervention has helped it to become embedded into the practice of teachers, educational psychologists, optometrists and NHS orthoptic departments across the UK. Irlen: Irlen lenses, also known as Irlen Spectral Filters, are coloured overlays or lenses that aim to reduce perceptual distortions and visual stress experienced by some people with dyslexia. The specific colours are customised for each individual based on their symptoms. Our 10 scientifically selected colours; can be combined to make 30 tints equally around the colour spectrum The children tend to lose their self-confidence. Because literacy is so important in the modern world, they often face a life of failure and depression. Or their anger and frustration with the world may lead them into aggression and crime. Yet if they survive their schooling, many dyslexics can become remarkably successful.
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