Reading is a complex task requiring good vision and some complex processing in the brain.  Reading difficulties may be caused by the way information is “processed” by the brain- a condition referred to as dyslexia. If you think your child may have dyslexia, the first step is to speak to their teacher or their school’s special needs coordinator (SENCO) about your concerns.  They may be able to arrange for an assessment and if the diagnosis is confirmed, they may be able to offer additional support. In some cases, reading difficulties can be caused by vision problems such as long-sightedness, astigmatism or problems coordinating the eyes.  This can be ruled out by having your child’s eyes examined by one of our Optometrists.  Whilst eye tests are provided free via the NHS for children under the age of 16, ReadEZ assessments and appliances are NOT funded by the NHS, a list of charges can be found at the bottom of the page.

Visual Stress

If having ruled out dyslexia and checked that your child’s eyes are healthy, your child is still having problems reading, they might be one of the 20% of the population who suffers from a condition known as Visual Stress. Approximately 20% of the population experience discomfort when looking at certain patterns- including rows of text. In the most severe cases, symptoms can include headaches, migraines or even seizures. More commonly, the text can appear to move wobble or flicker making it difficult to read fluently. This is known as Visual Stress. Visual Stress is thought to be caused by overactivity of certain groups of cells in the visual areas of the brain. The good news is that the symptoms can often be reduced by using a coloured overlay, coloured lenses or by changing the background colour of the screen or tablet that you are looking at.

The ReadEZ system was developed at City University London by a team led by optometrist and visual scientist, Professor David Thomson. The system is used by over 400 Opticians and in many hospitals and schools and our coloured overlays, coloured lenses and screen tinting software are now used by 1000s of people around the world.

​ReadEZ Overlays are available in 12 colours.  The colours have been carefully chosen by a team of vision experts to provide the optimum saturation (colourfulness) and transmittance (darkness) to minimise the symptoms of Visual Stress. The overlays themselves are made of durable acetate and come as A5 sheets making them ideal for reading pages of any size.

​When you use an overlay, only a small part of your visual field is coloured whereas when you look through a coloured lens, everything you see is coloured and the eye tends to adapt the colour. This means that the preferred colour for a coloured lens is sometimes different to the preferred colour for an overlay. If you already use an overlay, you should ask us to assess you for the optimum colour for a tinted lens.

​ReadEZ Spectacles are available in 12 colours.  The colours have been carefully chosen by a team of vision experts to provide the optimum saturation (colourfulness) and transmittance (darkness) to minimise the symptoms of Meares-Irlen syndrome. If you wear prescription spectacles, you can speak to us about ordering spectacles with a ReadEZ tint.

ReadEZ Overlay Assessment

​ReadEZ Spectacle Assessment

ReadEZ Overlay Sheet

ReadEZ Tint to CR39 Prescription Lenses

​ReadEZ Tint to CR39 Plano Lenses 

£30.00

​£30.00

​£5.00

​£30.00 (if lenses are funded by the NHS)

​£75.00 (not funded by the NHS)