DEFEAT DYSLEXIA

Memory: 48K
Price: £9.95

A program review is not the place to begin a discussion of dyslexia, a term hotly disputed among educationalists. Suffice it to say that Dyslexia Beater is aimed at children of average or above average ability from seven to 14 who experience reading difficulties, confuse left and right and muddle certain letters such as p, b and d.

Three levels of difficulty can be chosen, and three games are provided. In the Desert of Durg the player has to work through a maze of mines by pressing the cursor keys, first with the mines displayed and later when they are invisible. A mine detector screen indicates where the mines are.

In Crossing the Brax the player has to move a target right or left, to catch letters which match the target. Each successful catch builds an arch of a bridge.

Escape from Dyslexon involves steering a rocket ship through the green space gates while watching for flashing direction instructions. Refuelling has to be done by catching a yellow pod. Vaporisation occurs if the player is hit three times.

Compiled in machine code, the games are fun and fast moving. A useful learning aid for use either in special classes or at home.

Spectrum 48K
£9.95
Dunitz Software

"Significantly, many of the programmers I have met seem to be dyslexic to some degree." Thus Dr Beve Hornsby in her new book Overcoming Dyslexia. The relevance to this column is that Dyslexia Beater is a series of three addictive, easy-to-play arcade games created by educational psychologist Dr Colin Terrell and his colleague Charles Smith designed to accompany the aforesaid book.

The programs aim to help youngsters develop good letter recognition skills and sense of direction. Directional confusion from being uncertain of which is left and right to being unable to read properly is a common symptom of dyslexia. It appears to be a hereditary condition.

The first game, Desert of Durg, appears to cater for directional confusion. You have to guide Dyslexia Beater to the River Braax, avoiding mines and, on later screens, monsters. It is a standard format game of the type that presents you with a map of a minefield. You tiptoe round this using the keyboard. Then you have to do it again - but this time the mines are invisible. You have to follow the instructions which are displayed on the right-hand side of the screen. They warn you that mines are to the right, left, above, below. The pink monsters which appear later mean you have to do a bit of strategic thinking to figure out how to avoid them.

Crossing the Braax is the second game. This deals with letter recognition. You build a bridge by catching letters falling in yellow boxes that are the same as your moving target or letter-catcher. Each correct catch builds up an arch, scores 30, erases the falling letter's yellow box and changes the letter you are using to catch identical letters with.

This is an excellent idea and quite a good game in its own right. The only quibble I have is that it might be a little wearing on the eyes, due to the Spectrum's character set. If you are seriously going to use this with dyslexics, you will have to get hold of a big monitor.

The third game, Escape from Dyslexon, necessitates steering Dyslexia Beater's rocket ship through the green space gates, while observing direction instructions - a kind of primitive Scramble with the computer playing backseat driver. You get vaporised if you are hit three times by stars or the red space wall. The program is menu-driven so players can access any game at the touch of a button. The price of book and tape together is £12.95. The telephone number of Martin Dunitz Ltd is 01-482 2202.