Color Blindness
TV ClubHouse: GD Archives: Color Blindness
Heyltslori | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 03:59 pm     My dad is color blind. It's really not that big of a deal to him now but as a child he had some problems in school because of it. His was not diagnosed so his teachers just thought he wasn't very bright in that area. It definitely caused some frustration. I have a 4 year old nephew, and it appears that he might be color blind as well. I know it's usually passed from girls to their sons so my sister has been looking for signs of it for the past year or so. On my nephews last doctor visit the doctor did a few tests and he thinks that there is a good possibility that my nephew is at least partially color blind. It's a bit hard to test accurately at his age, but they can have them look at pictures that children with normal vision can see and use those as a guide. I'm wondering if any of you or your children, family, friends etc. are color blind and if so if you have any advice that might be helpful for my sister. Like I said, my nephew is only 4 right now, but soon he'll be starting school and that is where it will start to become a bit of a problem for him. If anyone has any input I would appreciate it. Thanks! |
Ophiliasgrandma | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 04:26 pm     My hubby and I go round and round arguing over whether something is blue or green. He's the one with a problem because when there is a third party about they see it the same as I do. I don't see as it is any particular problem for him though. |
Cathie | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 05:42 pm     I work in pediatric vision care and every few weeks get questions from parents about this. It is not considered enough of a problem to have brochures or pamphlets regarding the condition. It does become more of a 'problem' in school settings, but if the teacher is notified they will be able to deal with it. Even though he may not see the colors the same as other children, he will see a color of some kind there and will learn the color he sees as red, green, etc. Some children have a condition called achromatopsia, where they see no colors at all, everything is black and white to them. They still see shades of black, white, and gray (think of a black and white TV), though, and can even make good guesses as to the shade of dark gray that is red, etc. My husband is slightly color blind (only way I can get him to wear a pink shirt, lol). It isn't really a problem for him because the inportant things are still identifiable by a variation of color--even though he may not see a red light as red he knows by the color he does see and the position of the light that it means STOP. There is some information available online, including an abbreviated test: http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/Ishihara.html |
Heyltslori | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 06:30 pm     Cathie, thanks so much for your post. My dad does the same thing with stoplights and stuff like that. However, when you said that children will "learn" the color they see as red or green etc., for some reason it doesn't seem to have worked that way for my dad. For instance, he can look at grass and "know" that that color is green, but if you show him a green marker, he is likely to say it is red. I've questioned him a lot about it wondering why he doesn't see the marker as the same color as the grass, and he can't really give an explanation. When he was in school he actually had a book of colors that he would refer to for help....for instance a page that says RED and might show an apple, a stop sign, a red balloon etc. and he would see that they were all red...but if you took the book away and showed him a red crayon, for example, he might say it was blue or brown. The only one he consistently gets right is yellow. It's very puzzling. Anyway, I will pass your information along to my sister. Thanks so much for taking the time to help! |
Ketchuplover | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 06:41 pm     I'm glad I'm not color blind,otherwise I might eat green or purple ketchup. Oh the humanity!! |
Reader234 | Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 09:03 pm     Hello, Just thought I'd add 2 thoughts. My dh is color blind, reds and greens. He is a computer geek, but graduated with an Electrical Engineering degree, one of his first jobs was with a phone type company. If you've ever noticed they have wires that are color coded, and a striped color to match. He had to sort them... and he is color blind, he got marked down because it took him all day, most people do it in less than an hour!! BUT he did do it, I think he only made one mistake!! So he adapts, and he is nervous about his color combonations too!! I hate when he wakes me at 6 am to make sure he matches, he'll often say, I'd never thought THESE match. Or we'll watch trading spaces and he'll say WHAT color is that? BUT if someone finds out, they automatically question him (he hates these kinds of "tests") what color is this? and this? how about that? and of course he 'passes'. Thought 2 - They have developed a contact lens that corrects/adjusts or 'fixes' (for lack of better word!) color blindness. It was on the TV news last week. Apparently it is one reddish lens, and it makes adjustments somehow... the lens has to be specially hand made, so the cost is around $200 I think... just a thought for the future!! |
Heyltslori | Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 09:12 pm     Reader234, Thank you so much for your post! My dad worked as a service technician for Sears, so nearly every day he had to deal with colored wires. Many times he would have to explain his color blindness and ask the customer for help telling the different colored wires apart, so I can totally understand what your dh is talking about! Luckily my dad is a pretty easy going guy and he's never let it bother him. I had not heard about the contact lenses but I'll definitely do some research on that!! Thanks again for your input.  |
Jmm | Saturday, June 28, 2003 - 10:18 pm     Lori, I spoke with our Special Ed director at school (color blindness does not fall under special ed but she's a neat lady). She suggested that you find the nearest School for the Blind and talk with them. They should have some resources available or know where you could go to get more advice on coping mechanisms for your nephew. |
Heyltslori | Sunday, June 29, 2003 - 07:56 am     Thats a great idea Jmm, and I know exactly where one is quite close by. Thank you!! |
Riviere | Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 07:14 am     My husband was born with the red green factor his grandfather had, passed through his mother, he is the only of 4 sons to have it.. He's a tech and has the usual trouble with stoplights and wiring which he's paid to work with the latter, it's scary.. He can't see purple, mistakes the dull shades of green for dirt brown, and rainbows to him come in 3 colors only.. My mother was years ago married to a completely colorblind man, so I consider my husband kind of lucky! They tease him at work if he shows up wearing a shirt and tie compatible, like oh, wife dressed you today, hmm? Salesmen look at him strangely when he has to ask about colors, and I have to pack for him when he travels.. I knew his colorblindness was a real problem years ago, when driving through a strange city I was reading the map so hubby said to our 8 year old son in the backseat to tell him if the stoplights were red or green or yellow so he could stop in time, and our son replied, well, Dad, there was a yellow one and then a green and a red one we just passed... |
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