Coloured Overlays
Children who are symptomatic are said to be
suffering from visual stress.
In some of these children it has been found that coloured filters
or coloured lenses help the processing of information in the brain.
Filters or lenses of a specific colour can eliminate completely or
significantly improve symptoms.
Colour Therapy for Dyslexia
The use of colour to help with specific learning
difficulties is backed up by considerable scientific research. Arnold
Wilkins, Professor of Psychology at the University of Essex and Helen
Irlen, an Educational Psychologist from California are two of the
most prominent researchers in this field.
Professor Wilkins research showed that approximately 20% of children
who suffer from visual stress are helped by placing coloured sheets
of plastic film over the reading material. Full details of the study
can be found at:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/psychology/overlays/in%20schools%20OC4.htm
Helen Irlens research in the 1980’s, led to her identifying
a condition and naming it Meares-lrlen Syndrome. She describes it
as a syndrome in which reading is hampered by distortions of print.
The distortions are minimised when the text has a particular colour.
The required colour is different for each individual.
Her work with adult students showed that some of them read with greater
ease when they covered a page of print with a Coloured Overlay. She
went on to develop a patented treatment method consisting of specially
formulated overlays and lenses.
Coloured Overlay Screening:
This identifies those children and adults who
are helped by the use of coloured filters. It involves measuring the
speed at which a child reads without any filters and comparing that
‘rate of reading’ with the rate when different coloured
filters are put in place.
The City University Intiuitive overlays screener, a computer programme
that has been accredited by the Institute of Optometry, London is
used to assess the impact of different colours.
Some children show a distinct improvement, while for others there
is no difference. The colour of any filters that do help will vary
from individual to individual.
If the screening shows a statistically significant improvement in
reading with a coloured filter an Overlay is issued to use at school
and at home for one term. The progress is monitored regularly and
if continual benefit is found, the filter is incorporated into spectacle
lenses.
These spectacle lens filters differ from normal tints and are produced
by a select number of specialist laboratories. |
| |
| |
|
|
