Lenses help dyslexics to read faster

The randomised double-masked, placebo-controlled study conducted at the Corneal Laser Centre, Clatterbridge Hospital, in the Wirral, Merseyside, found an average 18 per cent increase in reading speed. The study, conducted by principal research optician David Harris, and statistician Susan MacRow-Hill, was based on 52 patients. It found up to a 22 per cent improvement in half of the patients who were fitted with ChromaGen lenses. Mr Harris said: 'Although ChromaGen lenses do not represent a cure for dyslexia, we believe that the system is a major breakthrough in helping the majority of affected patients to realise their potential. The treatment is haploscopic, in that each eye is treated separately. We currently believe the lenses work by reducing the visual distortion associated with dyslexia. This was particularly noticeable in individuals who were not colour blind.' There are currently 23 practitioners who fit ChromaGen lenses to aid colour defectives in the UK. 'The principles for treating colour defectives are different to those for dyslexics,' said Mr Harris. 'Those practitioners who are currently trained will receive further instruction and training on handling dyslexic patients.' The first 'ChromaGen Day' will be held on Sunday October 18 at a venue to be confirmed. Clinical trials into the use of the ChromaGen contact lens in children with learning difficulties were announced earlier this year (optician, February 20). At that point Mr Harris said that ChromaGen lenses may provide an equally, if not more, effective method of treatment than precision-tinted spectacle lenses for those with Meares-Irlen syndrome.