Our partnership with NAS has been reported in this month’s NI4Kids…

Discovering your child has been diagnosed with dyslexia or ASD can present many worries, particularly when difficulties at school become evident.  However specialist help is at hand in 2016 at McCrystal Opticians, Dungannon. Noel McCrystal is a leading specialist in visual treatments for dyslexia, dyspraxia and ASD, including Asperger’s and ADHD. McCrystal Opticians is one of the first practices in the UK and Ireland to combine the unique Schoolvision and Orthoscopics systems to help alleviate the multi-sensory issues commonly experienced by those with dyslexia and ASD.

What are the common symptoms and problems? Research shows that 80% of all learning is visual for children until they are about 12 years old. Visual stress, associated with dyslexia and ASD often leads to underperformance at school. Watch out for the signs including slowness or difficulty in reading print, frequently moving closer or further away from the page, become restless quickly and using a finger as a marker.  Look out for skipping words or lines, rubbing of eyes and blinking excessively, as well as lack of confidence or low self-esteem. Research also shows that 60-70% of individuals on the Autism Spectrum present multi-sensory problems with their sight, touch, smell, hearing and taste which many people are surprised to learn can be addressed very effectively through the eyes.

What treatments are available? New advances in multisensory optometry means there are a number of very effective visual interventions available for dyslexia and ASD.  The highly specialist Schoolvision technique addresses muscular problems in and around the eyeball as well as correcting eye dominance and prescribing advanced colour correction.  Schoolvision promotes the development of a child’s ‘up close’ world, allowing drawing, sketching, letter and word recognition to become much easier. This approach can help achieve up to 90% improvement in reading, writing, speech and verbal/ non-verbal communication skills.

The globally-acclaimed Orthoscopics light-based system has important applications for non-muscular dyslexia, where visual processing issues exist further back in the eye-brain communication chain. It is also an advanced option for individuals on the Autism Spectrum, many of whom experience some degree of facial distortion and facial blindness, spatial awareness and sensory confusion issues. Orthoscopics addresses these problems by stripping out ‘offensive’ wavelengths of light to help ease interference in a person’s sensory perception and correct the alignment of everyday senses.  This means individuals can ‘navigate’ the world with much more clarity and confidence resulting in better social interaction and improved performance at school.  With sensory stress reduced, you will see happier, less anxious children who can learn, explore and experience everyday life with much more enjoyment.