Myomancy ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism

In October 2004 I visited the Sound Learning Centre (in London, UK for an assessment and subsequently underwent Lightwave Stimulation or light therapy. This significantly improved my field of vision and that has had all sorts of beneficial effects but I never had the chance to go back to be retested until last week.
Normally the retest procedure takes place shortly after the treatment Pauline Allen and the rest of the staff were interested to see what changes would be evident after 15 months. The good news is that the test confirmed my field of vision had improved. Pre-Treatment my scores were 1 to 11 degrees for my right eye and 3 to 12 for my left eye. Post treatment it is 7 to 17 degrees and 5 to 13 degrees. A ‘normal’ range is about 25 to 30 degrees so my visual field has increased but is still short of normal levels.
The field of vision is measured by a Perimetry test. With one eye covered you stare at the centre point of a target. Slowly the coloured tip of a narrow wand is moved from the outside of the target to the centre and you let the examiner know when you can tell the wands colour. The position is marked then the process is repeated with a variety of different colours and different angles of approach. This builds up a map of where each colour can and cannot be seen. The colour aspect of this test is important as it is testing the visual range of the cone cells. These are clustered towards the centre of the eye and used to detect colour, fine details and fast changes. Peripheral vision is a function of the rod cells. These cells are sensitive to changes in light levels not colour and are found towards the edges of the retina.

	Left	Right
Pre
Post

You can try a simple version of this test right now. Pick up a brightly coloured object and hold it at arms length out to one side. Stare straight ahead and whilst keeping the object at arms length, bring it around slowly in an arc so that it is in front of you. What you will notice is that when the object first enters your peripheral vision you can see its shape but not its colour. As you bring it around further there will be a point where you can see its colour. This is the edge of your colour visual field.
The exact role a poor colour visual field has in learning difficulties is unknown as there has been too little research in this area. It is probable that it is related to some of the visual effects dyslexics have when trying to read, e.g. the letters jumping around. It may also be related to Meares-Irlen (also known as Scotopic sensitivity syndrome and ASFEDIA).
Further Reading: International Perimetric Society (IPS)
Myomancy: Visual