1. We have been struck by the number of schools using coloured paper / overlays as standard interventions for children with reading difficulties. We did an informal Twitter poll & at the time of writing, 74% of the 1,120 respondents said that their school uses this approach.
2. While a poll like this is by no means scientific, it does suggest that coloured overlays / paper are used widely and present in many, if not most, schools. This is a cause for concern. Why? A 🧵
3. Three-quarters of poll respondents reported the use of coloured paper or overlays to treat reading problems in their schools, despite an absence of scientific evidence for the practice.
4. Terms like visual stress, scotopic sensitivity syndrome & visual processing difficulties sound technical, but apart from most people being unable to say precisely what they mean, there’s also no evidence that they exist.
5. Engaging in, or condoning, practices based on false information maintains misconceptions and multiplies its influence.
6. By describing problems as if they are beyond our control, we also place them beyond our responsibility. Nothing will change until we accept that responsibility and begin to search for solutions.
7. ‘Visual processing’ approaches are frequently justified on the basis that they don't do any actual harm. That’s not a very high bar for educational intervention.
8. It’s really an admission that we don’t know how to solve the student’s reading problems.
9. It is remarkable how quickly we will leap at physical exercises, music training, coloured lenses and overlays, while actively resisting improvements to reading instruction.
10. Why do so many people in education believe that visual processing difficulties are real?
11. Who exactly has been promulgating coloured paper and overlays as solutions for reading difficulties with such diligence that most schools appear to use them?
12. How many other unhelpful, or even harmful, approaches are operating in apparently evidence-free zones in schools?
We've written more about coloured overlays here: ‘Papering Over the Reading Gap’ wp.me/p4hKgx-7Xq (7 min read).
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