._a zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA ELSEVIER zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA Ophrhal. Physiol. Op. Vol. 16, No. 6, pp. 491-497, 1996 Copyright 0 1996 The College of Oplometrisls. Published by Elsevicr Science Ltd Printed in Great Briutn 0275-5408196 $1530 + 0.~ zyxwvutsrqpo PII: SO2755408(96)00028-2 Rate of Reading Test@ : its reliability, and its validity in the assessment of the effects of coloured overlays A. J. Wilkins’, R. J. Jeanesl, P. D. Pumfreyz and M. Laskier’ ’ MRC Applied Psychology Unit, 15 Chaucer Road, Cambridge CB2 2EF, UK; and ‘School of Education, University of Manchester, UK Summary A simple reading test that can be undertaken by disabled readers is described. The test is suitable for use in the optometric clinic, taking less than 2 minutes to:cdn?:zter per passage. Test-retest scores are acceptably reliable. The test reveals increases in the speed of reading when coloured overlays are used both (1) in children who have made long-term use of coloured overlays for reading, and (2) in children who will subsequently do so. Copyright @ 1996 The College of Optometrists. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. Introduction Passages of text are widely used by optometrists for routine tasks such as assessing the effects of an additional refractive power for reading. Most passages are suitable only for fluent adult readers, although the McClure reading passages (Clement Clarke International) provide visual material suitable for the qualitative assessment of reading in young children. Quantitative assessment is possible using the Bailey-Lovie chart which comprises a set of random words of decreasing size (Bailey and Lovey, 1980), but these are not suitable for children. Reading speed can be assessed by the MNRBAD test (Ahn and Legge, 1995; Legge ef al., 1989). which is available on printed cards (Aim er ul., 1995). The test provides a standard set of simple sentences with equal numbers of lines and characters, and with equal contextual difficulty. It can be used to determine the smallest print size that yields maximum reading speed, and is of particular use in patients with low vision. Both the MNREAD and the Bailey-Lovie tests have been validated in optometric settings, but neither is suitable for use with children who have a very limited reading vocabulary. Recently there has been much media attention given to the effects of coloured overlays and coloured lenses in children with reading difficulty. Some studies have found effects on reading (Hannell ef af., 1991; Robinson, 1990, 1994; Received: 2 February 1996 Revised form: 19 March 1996 Robinson and Conway, 1994; Whiting ef ul., 1994) whereas others have failed to do so (Blaskey ef al., 1990; Cotton and Evans, 199Oa,b; Martin et al., 1993; Menacker et al., 1993; Solan, 1990). The field is controversial (Evans and Drasdo, 1991; Hoyt, 1990; Parker, 1990; Scheiman er al., 1991; Silver, 1995; Ward, 1991; Solan and Richman, 1990) although a recent double-blind cross-over study shows clinical benefits that cannot be attributed to placebo effects (Wilkins er uL, 1994). There is a need for a quantitative assessment of reading that reveals reliably any beneficial effects of colour that there may be. To date, the measures that have been most ~mmonly used in such assessments have been conventional reading tests, such as the Neale Analysis (Neale, 1989). Conventional reading tests are designed for educational use and are not suitable for assessing the effects of any optometric intervention (whether refractive or chromatic). This is because: (1) the tests assess the linguistic and semantic aspects of reading at least as much as the visual: (2) the test items typically increase in complexity until the reader fails, and the visual complexity of the material usually covaries with linguistic complexity; (3) performance is usually limited by a reader’s vocabulary, and adults therefore score at or near the test ceiling; (4) children with poor reading ability are aware of their failures And are often embarrassed by them. It seems there is a place for a simple test that minimises the linguistic and semantic aspects of reading and maximises the visual difficulties. Many visual difficulties with reading seem to emerge when 491