| Sumario: | Background: Acuity and accommodation result from an array response of the L (red), M (green), and S (blue) cone photoreceptors and the relative refractive focal depths of those specific colors. A Dyop® (or dynamic optotype) is a spinning segmented ring visual target which uses the strobic detection of the spinning gaps/segments of the ring to measure visual function. Dyop gap/segment color/contrast permutations have distinctive, and corresponding, acuity endpoints. This study's objective was to compare the qualitative acuity responses of a specific Dyop color/contrast combination to diagnosed symptoms of dyslexia. Methods: One hundred and eighty-eight patients, ranging in age from 4 years to 44 years, were examined as patients of the Stark-Griffin Dyslexia Academy to compare their relative color/contrast acuity endpoint perception of a spinning green-onwhite Dyop versus a spinning blue-on-black Dyop and the possible diagnosis of types of dyslexia. The Stark-Griffin Dyslexia Academy trains eye care professionals as to how to diagnose and treat patients with potential symptoms of dyslexia. The patients were diagnosed as to their prevalent type of dyslexia, if any, through the Stark-Griffin Dyslexia Assessment. The patients were then presented with, as part of the Chart2020 vision test platform, a display which has an identical-diameter spinning green-on-white Dyop and spinning blue-on-black Dyop with sufficient arc width diameter such that both Dyop rings were detected as spinning. Those Sandra Stark, B. Optom, B.Sc. Hons. Johannesburg Area, South Africa BOptom: University of Johannesburg (U.J.) 1990 BSc Hons (Psychology) CAS (Certificate of Advanced Studies in Paediatric & Binocular Vision): New England College of Optometry, Boston Certificate in the Teaching of Children with Dyslexia (University of New York) Certificate in Dyslexia - Identification and Support (U.J.). identically sized Dyop rings were then reduced in arc width until spinning of each of the colored rings was not detected. The smallest diameter ring where spinning was detected for each of the color/contrast combinations (corresponding to the acuity endpoint metric value) was recorded as the color acuity endpoint. Results: Of the 188 patients, 166 (88% of the total) were formally diagnosed with dyslexia, and 22 patients (12% of the total) were diagnosed as not having dyslexia. Of the166 patients diagnosed with dyslexia, 151 patients (86% of that group) detected a smaller angular arc width diameter for the spinning blue-on-black Dyop, while 9 patients (5% of that group) detected a smaller angular arc width diameter for the spinning green-onwhite Dyop. Of the 22 patients (12% of the total) diagnosed as not having dyslexia, 12 patients (55% of that group) detected a smaller angular arc width for the spinning green-on-white Dyop, while 9 patients (41% of that group) detected a smaller angular arc width for the spinning blue-onblack Dyop. Of the 22 patients diagnosed as not having dyslexia, one was diagnosed as "cognitively challenged," one was diagnosed as a "slow reader" (albeit not dyslexic), and one was diagnosed as having ADHD. There was an additional group of 16 patients (9% of the total) which responded by detecting identical acuity endpoints for both the green-on-white Dyop and the blue-on-black Dyop. Of the patients who detected an identical acuity endpoint for both color options, 1 patient (5% of that group) was diagnosed as not having dyslexia, and 15 patients (95% of that group) were diagnosed with dyslexia. Of the 151 patients with a definitive color response and diagnosed dyslexia, 142 (94%) detected a smaller angular arc width for the spinning blue-on-black Dyop. Of the 21 patients with a definitive color response and diagnosed as not having dyslexia, 12 (57%) detected a smaller angular arc width for the spinning green-onwhite Dyop. While this is only a preliminary study, the correlation of detecting a smaller angular arc width for a spinning blue-on-black Dyop with the 86% association with diagnosed dyslexia definitely deserves further evaluation. Conclusions: This preliminary evaluation of the disparity of color perception versus diagnosed symptoms of dyslexia showed a strong positive association (~86%) between color perception and diagnosed symptoms of dyslexia. The findings suggest that symptoms presented by dyslexics could be better understood or analyzed by their color perception.
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