Colourimetry for Dyslexia

Following the idea that my youngest might be dyslexic and not being a person to not take action, I have recently spent a great number of hours researching and reading about this problem.  One of the treatments that may help for visual dyslexia is changing the background colour - black on white is one of the most difficult things to read, yet almost all reading is done with this colour combination.

Mini-twinks has revealed that reading is easier and the words move less when the background is either blue or red, so I have been reprinting all of his reading homework from school on blue paper.  I have also been putting in little lines under the middle of each word to help him track across the line.  This has helped him to read with less difficulty and less squinting at the words!

 So last week we went with  Other Twinks for a joly to the UK to get their eyes tested and for him to be tested on an intuitive colourimeter to see if coloured lenses would help.

First of all he had a normal eye test and the recommendation to have a slight correction as whilst he can see perfectly well he is slightly long-sighted and his eyes are having to work a bit harder which may explain his headaches and how tired he becomes.  Then after he'd had a break we moved on to the colorimeter where he looked at a page of script and the optician guided him through the spectrum of colours to see if any made it easier to see the writing.  When he fixed on a colour they moved onto the depth of the colour to the exact best shade for him.  It is quite subjective and at 6 he his quite young.  We spent quite a lot of time reminding him it wasn't his favourite colour that counted but what made it easier to read!  Our optician tested him 3 times to try and remove as much subjectivity as possible.  While I can't be sure that he has the optimum colour for him, what was very clear was when a colour didn't help him.  I think that if they do seem to help then this will be an exercise to repeat in a couple of years when he himself will have a better understanding of the process and why we are doing this.

One week after that by the Grandparent Delivery Service one beautiful pair of blue tinted glasses has arrived.    It is the holidays so too early to decide if they really will help.  I can't wait for him to go back to school to see how he adapts to wearing them in class and to see if his teacher notices any difference over the next term.

it could only happen to him ....

Well after a couple of months when mini-twinks reading was slow, but not dramatically bad it has all come to a head and action has been called for.  His teacher put a note in his homework book about some of the written mistakes he had made that day including some dramatic sound and letter reversals.  Not one to sit doing nothing I googled "sound reversal" and not surprisingly (but was to me at the time) stumbled on sites for dyslexia, which threw my world upside down in the blink of an eye.



Like most people I thought dyslexia was purely a problem with reading and writing - not so.  The more I read up on the symptoms the more I saw a portrait of my son.  A creative, fun-loving, "meme pas peur" (fearless) and funny boy that makes everyone laugh with his mispronunciations.  I've posted on FB some of his more memorable ones (muffins for puffins and meringue airplane).  A boy that at 6.5 doesn't know his left form his right and has no real notion of time  "mummy is it today?" is still a common question in our house.

I cried.  And then I cried some more - as all I can see is a momental journey ahead, dealing with literacy in not one, but two languages.

Then I told myself off and got down to some action.  First a chat with his teacher who agreed to take him into "soutien" (after-school help) after the holidays to provide extra phonic help.  In under a week he had an appointment with a speech and language therapist and the optician to get his eyes tested (although the waiting list is 3 months for that).  I removed my head from the sand and have now bought a daily calendar for him to change and he is fed up of "Simon Says" with integrated left and right!  I have researched colourimetry and experimented with different colours of paper for his reading.  He seems receptive so next week we are off to the UK for the day to get his eyes tested both for prescription lenses and coloured lenses if they may help.  His french eye test will be maintained to see if he would benefit from eye retraining exercises, and to register him with an opthalmalogue so that future visits do not take 3 months to come through.

His speech and language therapist remains non-committal, and whilst not ruling out dyslexia does say that such a diagnosis can only be made over time while working with him.  This work starts next week.  We feel  a little fustrated as we would like to know, but pleased that he has been able to get started with a therapist a couple of weeks after his teacher raised the alarm.  This is rare - normally it takes about 3 months to have the first evaluation carried out.  We feel lucky.

Who knows what the future is going to hold for him and I expect to become and expert on dyslexia, but at least he is getting the support  and understanding he needs straight away and for that I am grateful......

to be continued....