My daughter is now reading with coloured reading rulers

[lovelifetoday]

My youngest daughter has always had a problem reading. She just didn't "get" it. The school just kept telling me to wait - but typical mum I just couldn't.
I looked up coloured reading rulers on the web and bought a mixed coloured pack. The result was instant. She can now read easily using the red ruler. Since then I have bought her pink glasses and we are just waiting for them to arrive from the optometrist.
I am a little evangalical about this as the result is instant. I took them to the school I work at and they tried them on a year 5 girl who had always had trouble reading and she is now literally skipping down the corridors as she can read - just like her friends and for the first time she read a whole book in an evening at home.

I just wanted people to know they exist and if your child is not reading as well as you would expect or is struggling or if they just aren't "getting it" then I cannot recommend these enough to try. They obviously won't work for everyone but they might be just what your child need.

Good luck

Link? I'm a teacher and keep wondering about these.

I have to say they are amazing. The result is instant. I would suggest that if you have a child who you consider to be bright and is learning well in other areas but just isn't reading then it is well worth trying.

The rulers themselves are very cheap I think I only paid £11 for 10 of different colours. Please please try them.

Thanks. Where did you get them from please?

We test our students who have literacy problems with coloured overlays. I have to photocopy work onto a whole rainbow of colours for some of my classes.

Hi Janeite

I got mine from this website
www.bdastore.org.uk
Best of luck

Hi Fallen Madonna yes I have requested that until the glasses come the work is photocopied onto coloured paper, the teacher writes with a coloured ie not black pen on the whiteboard and flip charts. It has made a tremendous difference. My daughters teacher also says she can concentrate for the whole session now. She cannot believe how she has come on in only a couple of weeks.

Sounds brilliant. No wonder you are evangelical about them.

I have not heard of these, what is the thinking behind them?

I've found some on the ESPO site. Think I'll order some, as I was doing an order anyway. Thank you.

Hi

Apparently when some people read they get a kind of strobing effect with the black text against the white paper. It can also happen with dyslexia but isn't. There is a proper term for it but I can't remember the name. When my daughter went for the glasses she had to read a paragraph of unassociated words eg
boy, cat, dog, come, up
the man timed her and said if she couldn't read one to miss it out. She then looked into a machine where he changed the hue about 3000 diffent ones!!! When he found the one that best suited her she then read the paragraph again this times 70% faster, no mistakes, no misses and with confidence. I have to admit I sat in the corner of the room and cried having been told that she couldn't read and that I was pushing too hard and should just stop asking her to read for 6 months to give her a rest.

Hi Janeite

I am so happy. Good luck I hope they work for some of your students.

Thanks for that lovelife

It's called scotopic sensitivity.

Thanks cornsilk

How amazing!

I don't have a dd with reading problems (just attitood problems!) but looked in as I was intrigued by reading with coloured rulers!

I did know about the condition though. How wonderful for you to be the one that discovered that was all she needed! You should feel very proud of yourself, that you ignored the schools thoughts and did some searching for yourself!

Well done and happy reading!

To MaureenMlove - thank you so much for your support.

Did you pay to get the test done?

DS1 is 7 and has been diagnosed by school as having mild dyslexia

I have never had him tested in this way or ordered the rulers, but I think I will give this route a try as you never know unless you try!

THanks, a nice positive note to go to bed on!

my ds1 uses an overlay card.it really helps him.hes dyslexic.his is blue/purple.

unfortunatly school is crap.we had him privatley tested for both dyslexia and the over lay card.then school got off theyre bums and tested him again.he managed to loose his card and the teacher said she was getting another.but no,she decided he doesnt need it(and apparently she knows better than optician as he doesnt need his glasses either)she said seing as though she has about 6 children in class who need an overlay card shes printing work on coloured paper(all the same!surely it would be a huge coincedence if they all used/needed the same overlay colour?)and what about when reading from books.the school dont seem to 'get it'

i shall stop ranting now.ive been meaning to have long rant on here as have lots to moan about re.ds1 but cant be arsed.

Dear Carocaro

I did have to pay for the overlays after seeing an optometrist the man charged £40 and the overlays were £10 each. The rulers were £11 for 10 mixed colours - a really good place to start.
The glasses I had to go to Bexleyheath in Kent as it was one of our nearest places. I got the list from the web site www.s4clp.org. The price of the consultation was £40 and the NHS don't cover any of the cost of the glasses so my daughters were £108.
The rulers really are the best place to start as they are so cheap. Now I've started talking to people I cannot believe how many have children they are concerned about and 3 people have borrowed my spare rulers to try with their own children.

I wish you all the very best

Lovelifetoday- Will your DD wear her glasses all of the time or just for class time.

My DS has Irlens syndrome and uses a turquoise overlay which helps a lot but he is still having some distortions of text. He also has a lot of problems with distortions in the environment, such as co-ordination, depth perception and glare from surfaces.

We have made an appointment through Irlen Centre and it will cost us about £280 for the assessment and the glasses. He will wear his tints all the time to help with these problems as well as reading.

WE did consider getting him Cerium tinted glasses but they seemed to just test for rate of reading, is this what you have and is that true.

Some schools are very aware of these rulers/overlay sheet. Children are usually tested to see which colour works for them best. At our school all the interactive white boards are set with a pale coloured background (not white) Might be worth asking your school to do the same.
We always photocopy on the most suitable colour for those who need it! Its part of our SN policy and dyslexia award.