At the Dyslexia Show in March, Dr Helen Ross talked about the Lili Lamp, a portable reading light for dyslexics. It is showing encouraging results for those who experience binocular instability, visual stress or migraines.
When people are tested for dyslexia, they should have their eyes tested – and not just for their vision. Children need to see a clear image of text if they are to decode the words and move seamlessly from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. However, if they have 'mixed ocular dominance' or 'unstable binocularity', their eyes will not work together to produce a clear, stable image.
How to find your dominant eye
Some people think the 'dominant eye' is the eye which has the better vision, but this is not necessarily so. To find your dominant eye, choose an object in the middle distance 3-5 metres away from you. Make a triangle with your hands and hold them in front of your eyes, look at the object through the gap with both eyes open.
Close one eye and then the other. Most people find that with one eye, the object is in the same place as it was when they had both eyes open. This is the dominant eye. When they look with the other eye, the object has moved and may no longer even be inside the triangle. If the object moves as each eye is opened, you might have mixed ocular dominance.