The abacus has been transformed into a modern-day teaching tool to help dyslexic pupils overcome numeracy problems.

Teacher Celia Stone has created the Addacus as a way of getting pupils with the learning difficulty to understand numbers.

The device has been tested at one district school and now she is hoping it will prove popular across Bradford and beyond.

The Addacus shows pupils the difference between units, tens, hundreds and thousands with differently coloured and shaped bars.

It has been used in lessons at All Saints Primary School in Ilkley.

Head teacher Peter Marsh said: "It's a higher-generation abacus. And we do not just use it for pupils with dyslexia, it is a good way for all children to learn.

"In teaching it is now recognised that children learn in one of three ways: orally, visually or kinesthetically hands-on learning.

"When I was at school the teacher would sit in front of the class and talk and if I was a good oral learner I would be able to take it in but some pupils can't.

"With the Addacus the children are learning in all three ways."

Mrs Stone, 59, of Guiseley, trained as a primary school teacher at the University of Cape Town and later specialised in pupils with dyslexia in her native Zimbabwe.

In 1981, she set up the dyslexia unit at Woodhouse Grove School in Apperley Bridge.

And she has also published a successful series of workbooks called Beat Dyslexia.

Now she has formed a firm with colleague Myra Nicholson to produce the Addacus.

Mrs Stone said she hoped the product would establish itself in the UK and then be sold in Europe, US and worldwide.

She said: "Many dyslexics struggle with recognising numbers and their significance or sequence. They see the numbers but simply don't understand what they mean.

"Mathematics is just another language so it's crucial for pupils to learn the vocabulary of numbers from the very beginning.

"The beauty of Addacus is that it can also be used for mainstream children who need to learn quickly, grasp thoroughly and apply confidently these essential number concepts and rules for the rest of their lives."

e-mail: john.roberts@bradford.newsquest.co.uk