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)

So would you get a referral from your gp?

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

A normal highstreet optitician will do this, both the ones we have used have picked up my dd's convergence problems and given her excercises to do.

Bruffin, no they don't. I took Ds three times to a very well known high street optician and they missed convergence insufficiency and a severe tracking issue. Picked up in seconds at the behaviour optometrist. Even I could see it was there with my untrained eye. 4 months of exercises fixed it. The vision therapy was amazing, fixed a lot of other things as well as his eyes. Can't recommend it highly enough. Such a shame we had to go private.

Mrsbaffled
Both Boots and an Independent picked my dd's convergence. Her eyes were blurring at 20cm instead of 8cm. She was seeing double when she was reading and didnt tell anyone because she thought it was normal. They gave her excercises to do, getting her to do them is another story.
Both of them also picked up my dh's convergence problems and given him excercises although they also used prisms and one stage.

I rang the opticians that tested dd to ask if convergence had been test for and it hadn't I asked if I could bring her in to do so and they said if I had concerns regarding dyslexia then I should speak with the school - not much help, being as school said they don't think she has but maybe worth 'watching this space'

There is a very simple test for convergence.

Get a pencil, hold it at arms length and slowly bring it towards you until it becomes blurred or seeing double. This should normally happen about 8cm from the eye, in my dd's case it was 20cm which is why she was seeing double when she read.
Both dcs always have had very eye exam by both the opticians we have used.

DD isnt the dyslexic one in the family, it is my ds and dh . Dh had problems learning to read but got there when he was taught phonics at 10. DS was taught phonics from the start, didnt really click until 7 but now reads well, but they both have problems with spelling and ds has memory recall problems.

hi all,

highly recommend nhs referral to orthoptics for any convergence problems , mears irlen, reading difficulties etc etc. Their 4 year degree is all about this stuff.

behavioural optometrists are making money out of it and can be unqualified, or have a diploma in dispensing glasses only. Heard some major horror stories re BO's!

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.

Smee - please could you tell me where you would recommend in London for a test. My DDs school has recommended this to me today after a brief initial assessment of DD. Thank you!

bruffin, the behaviour optometrist we used was also a high street option. I would be interested to know if most high street opticians test to see if coloured overlays will be helpful.

Hello Suede, it's the Institute of Optometry, here Very down to earth, no frills sort of place. I liked them a lot.

Angi, I was told most high street opticians don't test for it. So you have your child's eyes tested in the standard eye test way and it not be spotted.

Thanks Smee - shame it's so expensive, as I am not really sure if my daughter has this problem or not. Her reading is ok, but she misses out chunks of words and says that she sees "dots" before her eyes. Optician says her sight is fine!

My son's sight's fine too, Suede. If you do go to see them, you can get the initial assessment free so long as she qualifies for free NHS eye test. I think if you haven't had one for a while you do, but sounds like you've just done that.

With my son they did the eye test, including checking for Meares Irlen, so I didn't have to pay at all for that. Then they sent us away with some overlays to try for a few weeks. It's then up to you whether you return for more detailed test/ tinted glasses. That's the expensive bit!

Should have said, but the test they do is really interesting, so they find the tint the child says is best (i.e. whichever colour stops the words moving). The child then reads a passage of random words against the clock (1 minute). They read it first with the tinted overlay, then repeat with same words without the overlay. With the overlay, my son read 98% of the words and made just one mistake. Without the overlay he read 72% of the words and lots of mistakes, including skipping several whole lines. I was blown away by how much difference it made. Made getting the glasses a no-brainer.

Its amazing to see, sometimes kids show over a 100% increase in their rate of reading. mind blowing.

here in scotland the coloured lenses and frames are free under the nHS for anyone aged 19 or under in full time ed, or adults the lenses are paid for by the NHS.

However thats if you go through the NHS for the tests ie orthoptics.

some opticians wont tell people this or refer them and do it themselves charging hundreds , drives me bonkers

Hi again Smee - that's useful to know. Their website seems to say it's £100 but maybe that's for the detailed test. I think we are due the yearly NHS one in April so maybe I'll try and get them to do it free. Thanks again!

Worth giving them a ring, Suede. I think the £100 is for the detailed colorimeter test. Good luck!

Idiot, it drives me bonkers too. I don't understand why it's not more widely recognised. Having seen how much it affects my son, it seems daft not to run a basic assessment on all kids alongside routine eye tests.

One point to mention, our DCs optician will not do the colour filter test unless a person has a diagnosis of dyslexia. Seeing as its a private optician & you pay a fortune for the test, I'm surprised at this & not sure if its the norm? DH was his first person he tested not to have a diagnosis of dyslexia, (considered stupid at school but now a blatantly obvious dyslexic).

All good fun ....and expensive when you have three all needing coloured lenses.