New hope for York dyslexia sufferers could be on the way thanks to a treatment originally designed for colour blindness.

Optometrist Rachel Perrott from Copmanthorpe, whose practice is in Castleford, has tried out haploscopic lenses on a student RE teacher at Oaklands School in York - which coincidentally has a new facility for pupils with specific learning difficulties, including dyslexia.

The results for teacher Francis Stewart, who has struggled all her life with reading difficulties, were dramatic.

Mrs Perrott said when she showed Francis a sheet of paper with writing on it she visibly flinched, saying the words seemed to be flying out of the page at her.

But when she tried different coloured lenses on her eyes the effect calmed down, until with the right combination, Francis found her reading speed had practically doubled.

Mrs Perrott said: "It's the same sort of reaction I have with colour vision. You just don't believe it until you've seen it."

After being fitted for her new glasses, a delighted Francis said: "Normally when you read the words jump, but they stayed on the line. The occasional letter would jump, but not all over the place.

"It made reading a lot easier, you don't need to concentrate as much. You can read a lot longer without getting headaches."

Mrs Perrott is one of 35 practitioners in the country currently using the technique, which was pioneered in Chester and the Midlands. She stressed it was likely to work for some dyslexia sufferers, but not necessarily all, and that methods of using tinted lenses to help them were already being used by some optometrists.

The difference with this technique was that it used different coloured lenses for each eye - blue and green in the case of Francis - which Mrs Perrott said synchronised the message the eyes were sending to the brain.

Clare Winstanley, a specific learning difficulties teacher at Oaklands School, who covers the whole of York, said: "It's very exciting. We are happy to try out anything that's going to help our pupils with dyslexia."

The treatment is not available on the NHS, and Mrs Perrott said lenses could cost up to £450 to £500. In addition, the assessment of patients could cost up to £60, though some of that cost may be recouped from the NHS in some cases.

Mrs Perrott's practice can be contacted about the technique from next week on 01977-552361.

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