A new tint on things

QUITE A SPECTACLE: Black or white, it doesn???t matter any more for Michelle Carter.

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Sixteen-year-old Michelle Carter’s world looks a whole lot clearer thanks to a pair of purple glasses.

The Rosehill College student was diagnosed with irlen syndrome, a visual perception problem, when she was seven.

Her mum Lesley Carter says Michelle’s primary school teachers initially thought she just "couldn’t track words".

"Michelle avoided reading," says Mrs Carter.

"She became extremely stressed waiting for her turn to read at school. Michelle was a bright kid but it was like her spark had gone out."

It was only when Mrs Carter enrolled her daughter for extra reading tuition that Kip McGrath Education Centre director Lesley Sharp recognised Michelle’s condition as irlens.

Mrs Sharp says children with irlens have difficulty reading black print on white paper.

They blink or squint a lot because words on the page can move, double and disappear.

Irlens is a genetic condition but only becomes a problem when children reach seven or eight as they cope with more words and fewer pictures in books.

"As the print size gets smaller the children find it hard to cope when reading smaller words," Mrs Sharp says.

Irlens children might rub their eyes, hold their head or complain of dizziness when they read.

"It was like having a big headache.

"I just couldn’t concentrate," Michelle says.

"The words looked like fuzzy lines.

"There were rivers between the words and they floated across the page."

Now Michelle wears coloured glasses to change the page’s background colour so the black words settle.

She admits wearing tinted lenses was "embarrassing" at primary school but says her high school classmates and teachers are more understanding.

"The teachers are helpful. They use coloured markers on the whiteboard so I can read it."

Michelle passed NCEA level one and is considering a career as an architect, physical education teacher or surgical nurse.

"Seeing her confidence improve has been amazing," Mrs Carter says.

Children must sit a test by a registered irlens screener before seeing a specialist. For more information see www.readeasy.co.nz.

– Emma Kelly is an AUT journalism student

- © Fairfax NZ News