Writing on blue paper - Dyslexia??

[educator123]

My d said today that at school she does her writing on blue paper, as it helps her to see better. I asked if other children do this sometimes and she said just her and 'x' used to (a child who has now left but had suspected dyslexia)

Anyone?

My sister is thoroughly dyslexic, she uses blue paper as it enables her to focus on the letters. She finds it hard to read from white paper as its too much of a contrast with the black text.

According to her it's very common for dyslexic people to use different coloured paper to help them focus. She's been through all tests and it doing very well at university with her blue paper and blue plastic sheet to attach to work sheets she's given!

Thank you, i will definitely be asking at schooll tomorrow. I feel really sad as i have suspected something not being quite right but thought i was being paranoid so didnt mention it.

Lots of people are dyslexic, if she is having difficulty then it is brilliant that it has been caught early and she should be able to get the help she needs. My dsis unfortunately wasn't officially diagnosed until college, the help she's received since has made such a difference to her. She is very smart, she just has difficulty putting what's in her head onto paper.

Do ask your dd's teacher, there might be other reasons for her using it, I'm just sharing my experience.

Irlens syndrome ie words moving on the page is different to dyslexia.

Mears Irlen syndrome is the name given to being able to read better through a cloured filter, it sometimes goes along with a dyslexia diagnosis but mostly it doesnt.

Common symptoms when reading are words jumbling, moving etc

Your local Orthoptic dept at hospital may test for this under the NHS, ask your GP for a referral.

I find that having the lenses of my specs tinted helps me read (the words don't dance around on the page.) I haven't been diagnosed with dyslexia, but it still helps.

I've never heard of Irlens syndrome!

I feel upset as she is in yr2 and i have had several discussions with the school as i have been concerned she struggles with reading or can be inconsistant and they have always assured me they have no concerns. Dyslexia has never been mentioned to me and although i have thought about it i havent mentioned it as i thought i was being paranoid.

Thank you idiot she has just started wearing glasses and during the eye test it was something i was suppose to ask about. I will definately ask about the refferal.

I don't think NHS do test for this near us, anyway. You may need to go private. Behaviour optometrists test for this. Look at BABO website to find a local one x

YY definitely have a read up about Irlens. The use of coloured paper or glasses is widely advocated.

Don't be sad. Oftentimes children aren't diagnosed until the similar age to your daughter as they can't articulate the difficulties they're experiencing with swimming or blurry words.

educator, my son is dyslexic, but has meares irlen too. I didn't find out until he was in year 3, so you're doing better than me! My DS now wears dark green tinted glasses. Makes a lot of difference and he loves them as he reckons they make him look cool.

I was diagnosed with dyslexia when I was little, I was given extra time in all my exam right the way through my education, it has never held me back. I have achieved good grades and went on to get a first at Uni. If anything I always thought it benefitted me. The methods I was taught to cope with it- like reading essay backwards so that I could check spelling, means that in actual fact my grammar and spelling is a lot better then most of my piers!

Do you think the school may be doing this because you have expressed concerns? They might be trialling this with her to see if it makes a difference to her work.

I remember a while back there were some tests done with dyslexic kids wearing blue tinted glasses lenses. A niece is dyslexic and studying Brain Stuff at university now.

I haven't expressed concerns with the school. Asked them today and they said dd has said she can see the smart board better when blue so they have been giving her other work in blue too but don't think she is dyslexia

Meares Irlen isn't specific to dyslexia. You can be dyslexic and not have it, or non-dyslexic and be affected. Hope you get it sorted for her.

So where to go forward from here?
The school say they think she is fine, but maybe worth 'watching this space' but most people prefer to see things on colour not white due to glare.
The confusion of certain words are 'quite common' at this stage apparently so how do I know if it's nothing or something!?

Where are you based? If you're in London I can recommend a good place to go and get a free eye test which will assess the Meares Irlen condition. I'd say start there, as if she is affected it could really help her.

Thank you - not near London unfortunately.
It will play on my mind if I don't at least get it checked even if it is nothing in the end.

You need to find a Behavioural Optometrist. They should be able to do a free NHS eye test and include within that a basic colour tint test. Most Optician's don't do that test, hence the need for a specialist. If you do find she's got a problem, they'll suggest a further test, which determines the best tint for her. You have to pay for that and for the tinted glasses - not cheap, but definitely worth it if she does have the problem.

my eldest girl (9 now) struggled with reading in Y2, and was tested for Irlen's syndrome. She did test positive, and was given coloured translucent sheets of plastic to put over black and white print - she wasn't great at using them, but they did seem to help.

Two years later, her eyes no longer 'jump' around like they used to on the page, and her reading is great. She isn't dyslexic (or if she is, only very very mildly - no teachers think she is) so Irlen can definitely exist independently.

Yes, I have irlen syndrome, only diagnosed with dyslexia late in life.

My ed psych report referred me to an optometrist, where they tested several coloured filters. I was told though that there is a particular colour suitable for each individual and there is no one fit all colour. My colour seemed to be green. Now I have a background screen on here and also highlight particular places on websites. So for e.g I use the most of the colours offered on here.

There is no strong research evidence that intervention using coloured overlays or special lenses has any affect on the word reading or comprehension of children with dyslexia (American Optometric Association 2004; Iovino, Fletcher, Breitmeyer, & Foorman, 1998).

from the latest training pack for SENCOs

What smee said.

I had 2 of my DC tested by a behavioral optometrist, one of my DC is dyslexic, the other isn't (or so their school tells me). Both read much faster using green overlays, and DS also has green lenses in his glasses.

To hear the difference between them reading with/without the overlay is quite remarkable. Neither of them has been formally diagnosed with Irlens, but there's no need, as long as they are getting the help they need.

The behaviour optomotrist also picked up that DD especially was very poor at tracking and gave us eye exercises to do.