Coloured Overlays and Visual Stress Testing for Reading Difficulties
Using coloured overlays and filters we can help alleviate symptoms of Visual Stress.
What is Visual Stress?
Visual Stress is a term used to describe visual discomfort or perceptual symptoms that some people experience when looking at text, particularly when reading for prolonged periods or viewing high-contrast patterns.
People experiencing Visual Stress may report that words or letters appear to move, shimmer, blur or distort, or that the white spaces between words appear unusually bright. Others may experience glare, headaches, eye strain, difficulty keeping their place, or visual fatigue when reading.
The exact cause of these symptoms is not fully understood, and Visual Stress remains an area of ongoing research. Similar symptoms can also occur because of eyesight, focusing or eye-coordination problems, which is why a comprehensive eye examination and assessment of visual function should usually come first.
Is Visual Stress the same as Dyslexia?
No. Visual Stress and dyslexia are different.
Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that primarily affects skills involved in reading, spelling and processing language. Visual Stress does not cause dyslexia, and visual treatments do not treat or cure dyslexia.
However, a person can experience both dyslexia and visual discomfort. This can sometimes make it difficult to determine how much of a person’s difficulty with reading is related to literacy and language processing and how much may be associated with visual symptoms.
Importantly, Visual Stress can also occur in people who do not have dyslexia.
Can coloured overlays or tinted lenses help?
Some people report that changing the colour or contrast of a page makes text more comfortable to look at. In selected individuals, coloured overlays or individually selected tinted lenses may help reduce symptoms and make reading more comfortable.
However, they do not help everyone, and the scientific evidence for coloured filters remains mixed. They should therefore not be regarded as a treatment for dyslexia or as a substitute for appropriate educational support.
At Airedale Opticians, our approach is to first investigate the person’s eyesight, eye health and visual function, including relevant focusing and binocular vision factors. Where appropriate, we can then assess whether changing colour or contrast provides a meaningful and repeatable improvement in visual comfort.
Current Cost £149.00
The Sufferer Might Complain of:
- Words appearing to move around on the page.
- The words appearing blurred or surrounded by halos.
- Reading causing eye strain or headaches.
- White paper seeming to be very bright, so words cannot be seen properly.
- Struggling to keep their place when reading text.
A Parent or Teacher Might Notice:
- They are often closing their eyes or looking away.
- Rubbing eyes while reading.
- Eyes become red or begin watering after a few minutes or reading.
- Frequently varies reading position and becomes restless.
- Rapidly becoming tired while reading.
- Loses place easily, skipping lines or words while reading out loud.
- Has difficulty tracking across the page, work is poorly laid out.
- Has difficulty copying text from the board or another book.
- Tries to avoid reading.
How Airedale Opticians Can Help
- All of our visual stress tests are performed by a qualified optometrist.
- Visual Stress Tests include a full eye examination – allowing us to check for any pathological causes of the visual complaints.
- Modern digital testing techniques are used to give the most accurate results.
- Our testing method allows for a null result – confirming that for some patients no coloured overlay actually helps – rather than forcing them to choose one.
- For patients who benefit, we provide a free coloured overlay for them to try at home, school or work.
- A follow-up test is included to monitor progress.
- We can provide coloured spectacle lenses, including prescription lenses, where required.