Mother invents reading aid for her dyslexic daughter

The Readassist aid is rectangular in shape and forces the students to focus only on the line they are reading from.

Each ReadAssist comes with four colored acetates. The primary colors most commonly used by people with dyslexia, which has effect of eliminating the effects of glare on the page. School books, newspapers, magazines etc are mostly printed black on white which makes reading more difficult for dyslexics and people with reading difficulties. The use of colored acetates alleviates this effect. Once the chosen acetate is inserted into the ReadAssist the reader can concentrate on each line.

Sheila realized very early that back in 1998, when Jenny was six years old, she was spelling words phonetically and was experiencing difficulty in focusing on one line at a time when trying to read. As Jenny progressed through the school system in Ireland, she experienced difficulties common to most dyslexics, namely the 'black on white' traditional presentation of school books.

'This presentation causes huge problems when trying to focus on individual words and written material can result in a big blur. After several years trying different techniques and products to assist my daughter, I developed a prototype reading aid, the 'Readassist', that removed the frustration associated with homework and reading.

'As the mother of a dyslexic, it broke my heart to see my daughter Jenny so frustrated when trying to read, she constantly read the line above or below to what she was meant to be reading.

'But with the Readassist, it directed her to the line she was supposed to be reading and in turn made reading an enjoyable experience and one that she has grown to love.'

'The first prototype was made from the side of a cereal box and had many adaptations that increased the durability, presentation and functionality that is present in the current model.'

The cost of the Readassist is € 24.95 plus post and packaging.

More info: http://www.readassist.ie

Adapted from: http://bit.ly/2jNXRe5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kMys132NRY