One day I won’t start my day with Twitter!
I opened the cursed bird app today to be met with news that Sainsbury’s has started selling over overlays as part of the back-to-school range. See more here.
Apart from being horrified that on day one of the school holidays, we’re already looking at BTS (not the band!), the ensuing comments indicated the lack of understanding about reading and the brain which is all too dominant in education.
So, here’s a little break down of my morning breakdown:
1.Research is based on tested situations
Research is a really useful tool that can help a lot of different people in many different situations. This is what we call “generalisability”. It means that the results of research can be applied to a whole bunch of other situations beyond where the research was done originally. Researchers (not just people in white lab coats) set up a hypothesis: a theory to test, and then test it to see if they’re right. Then, they write up what they did, how they did it, and what the results were. Sometimes their hypothesis is right, sometimes it isn’t. Either way, their findings are then reviewed (or checked) by their peers (other researchers) before being published – the peer review process!
2.Anecdotes are personal experiences
We all have a story to tell. Our experiences provide valuable insight into who we are, how we think and feel, and how we respond and behave in different situations. Everyone’s experiences are different and thus are not generalisable… which brings me back to today’s blog title and the thing about overlays.
Colour overlays do not solve reading problems
Controversial, maybe, but research shows us that, generally speaking, colour overlays do not solve reading problems.
They might help the process to be more comfortable.
Many people struggle with visual stress. Letters wobbling or words shifting, headaches from looking at a white page with black text… if this is you, please talk to a behavioural optometrist. And I mean an actual medically trained person, like those found here: www.babo.co.uk
Back to the title – your experience with overlays making reading more comfortable does not mean that the research is wrong.
It does not mean that your experience is wrong.
It means that when researchers explored the impact of colour overlays on reading speed and accuracy, colour overlays did not make a difference.
Perhaps it’s the wording that throws us. Instead of ‘reading problems’, maybe it should have said ‘reading discomfort’.
Reading problems require a Specialist Teacher
If you’ve had your sight and vision checked and you’re still having issues with decoding – or reading – the words, then a colour overlay is not going to help. Cracking the alphabetic code and understanding what the words mean is a different system in the brain. It’s tricky, but with the right support and time, we can all become proficient readers.
To summarise:
Get your eyes tested by an optometrist every two years.
Wobbly text? See a behavioural optometrist: www.babo.co.uk
Colour overlays don’t solve reading problems but might make it more comfortable.
See a Specialist Teacher to help crack the process of reading.
References:
Griffiths, PG, Taylor, RH, Henderson, LM & Barrett, BT. The effect of coloured overlays and lenses on reading: a systematic review of the literature. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt 2016; 36: 519– 544. doi: 10.1111/opo.12316