ABSTRACT
Sonia’s experience is not unusual. Roughly 40 per cent to 50 per cent of the dyslexics and dyspraxics I see report a very noticeable and positive improvement in the visual perception of text when using the coloured overlay they find is best suited to them. Some individuals with ADHD also report an improvement. For most, this comes as a major surprise. Most people find it difficult to
describe what a page of words in a textbook or novel looks like to them before they try out a range of different coloured overlays. However, when they compare the appearance of a page of words with and without using the overlay that is the best colour for them, they are surprised by the difference. That is the point when they suddenly realise that words don’t have to ‘dance around on the page’, clump together or ‘pop up out of the page’, and they don’t have to be ‘swamped by the glare of the white of the page’.
