Use of coloured overlays and lenses are unlikely to help children with dyslexia, study finds

Vision problems are rare in dyslexic children, and most have perfect eyesight, a large UK population based study has found.

The study’s findings, published in Pediatrics on 25 May,1 reinforced the argument that coloured overlays and lenses are unlikely to help with reading difficulties in children with dyslexia. Around 375 000 UK children have dyslexia, and the use of coloured overlays and lenses by such children is common in educational establishments. Parents can spend hundreds of pounds on them, but their effectiveness remains uncertain.

Studies examining the effectiveness of these reading aids have tended to be poorly designed or inconclusive.2 Professional bodies, including the Royal College …