Obviously the simplest way to compensate for visual perception difficulties is with the provision of glasses.

Opticians have been prescribing spectacles with tinted lenses for some time now and have achieved impressive improvements in patients with visually stimulated visual dyslexia.

Adam, aged 11

"...Adam is truly ecstatic...you have given him the most wonderful change in his life and he is so grateful. Within the first week he had achieved so much. He read two novels... having never read a novel in his life before this. He has so much more confidence at home and enjoys reading out loud to show everyone how well he reads...."

Emma, aged 12

"...the specs have made a big difference to Emma (age 12) with her schoolwork - she says the words are much clearer to read and she is more confident at having to read out loud in her class..."

Andrew, aged 10

"…his English teacher gave him another mock English SAT exam a few days after receiving the glasses. The week before he had got a grade 3C, his test with the glasses on was taken only a few days after getting them and his grade was one mark off a 5, the grades work like this: 3C, 3B, 3A, 4,4C,4B,4A,5. She says" Andrew's spelling and copying have improved dramatically in class, as has his confidence". He had no mistakes in his written work which has never happened before, he always swapped letters around and moved words in his sentences. His teacher also states that this huge change has boosted not only Andrew's grades dramatically but his confidence...."

Two factor have increased the life chances for a lot of children who have been hampered by visual dyslexia. First, the limited range of dye tints available has been vastly increased by a major manufacturer making advances in plastic lens materials. Secondly the difficulty of accurately prescribing exactly the right tint has been reduced by the development of Read-Eye, a diagnostic instrument for opticians.

Diverse involvement with dyslexia

Diverse is a company in the vanguard of modern technological developments, specialising in optics, optical design and optical instrumentation. Diverse company policy is to apply these technologies to the development of instrumentation to improve quality of life.

Diverse involvement in dyslexia is also motivated by the experience of one of the directors who researched the subject in depth to help his son. Some years ago the MRC Applied Psychology Unit, Cambridge stated, "Until recently there was little convincing evidence that colour could help with reading, but such evidence is emerging and slowly acquiring the scientific respectability it has hitherto lacked. Reading can be helped with coloured overlays and with coloured lenses." Diverse explored the link established between visual dyslexia and colour with Ian Jordan, optician and internationally recognised expert in this field, the result was the Optim-Eyes lamp:

Our latest development is the award winning Read-Eye diagnostic instrumentation for opticians.

Diverse is interested in any ideas of how to apply modern technology to create products useful to those suffering from the problems of dyslexia. As a successful product development company we are happy to work with others, providing the experience and support to help achieve the required results.

If you have a web site or research/information that could help in developing awareness of dyslexia we would be pleased to hear from you.

Tel. +44 (0) 1223 84 44 44