EdTech Day at Moon Hall School, Surrey - Part One

Recently I was invited to Moon Hall School to attend talks from a few tech companies with relatively new items on the market to support dyslexic pupils, as well those who need support with executive functioning. 

Moon Hall is a specialist Dyslexia school in Reigate, Surrey. They have children attending who have a diagnosis of dyslexia and are in need of more specific teaching than a mainstream school can provide. They have children aged 7-16, some of whom go on to take their GCSEs. 

This is a three part series to explore the companies I saw and what they can offer. 

Lexilens

Whereas most people will have one eye take over sight, with the other to support, dyslexics have 2 dominant eyes, so when they see b/d, p/q or example, the picture blurs into one where both of the letters are seen at once. 

Lexilens is an innovative pair of glasses which find a flickering speed for each user that forces one eye to be non-dominant and therefore replicating the non-dyslexic typical eye behaviour, thus cutting down on all the movement and ‘noise’ seen while reading. 

We heard from pupils in the school, as well as adults who tried the lenses, who all raved about the difference. Most saying the noise was reduced and they didn’t have to concentrate as much just to see, vs without the glasses. 

The glasses are tuned for each user via bluetooth.  Once it is set, they stay they same even when turned. They can also be shared by more than one person in a household, class or school, with each new user tuning the flickering via bluetooth again. 

As a migrane sufferer myself, I asked if the flickering could trigger a migraine.  They have found that dyslexic migraine users either have a natural or positive effect to migraines, as they are not suffering as much visual fatigue while using the glasses.

The glasses can be worn over prescription glasses, and also have a small clip-in lens that can be taken to an optometrist to have their prescription placed into the lens, which will then have a smaller profile and only one sent of arms on the ears. 

Specific reading skills are still needed while using Lexilens, as the users will still have the phonological deficits, although visual distractions will be greatly reduced. 

The price was fairly low, about £500. 

I think it is worth having a trial with Lexilens to see if it could help you or your child.  

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