by Dennis R. Overton     Imagine as a child not being able to read off a screen or board or out of a book and not know why? Not being able to pick up a coloured pencil and colour the little frog red; or unable to distinguish ripe or unripe fruit or follow colour coded instructions on a web page. Today, in education, at work and even leisure, with desk top publishers, computers, maps, information, coding, timetables, advertisement and games, colour is more prevalent than 30 years ago. As a matter of fact, you might say, we suffer from colour overload.

The term “colour blindness” implies you can only see in black and white* and not colour! The community therefore assumes all “colour blindness” is the same and they perceive only in black and white or grey? The “colour blind” do see colour but not the colours others may perceive. The correct term is Colour Defective Vision (CDV).

Research has shown that between 1:10 to 1:12 males and 1:200 females may have Colour Defective Vision at any one time. That is One Million Australians including 167,000 school children (* 1:50,000 only see in black and white.)

Colour Blindness is usually hereditary and is sex linked colour defective genes passed from the Colour Blind father, to the daughter (Carrier) and then a 50/50 chance to the male off spring and any daughters also have a 50/50 chance of carrying on the defective gene as well! That is why it will never genetically leave us.

Colour defective vision can also be caused by some chemicals, illness, (Diabetes etc;) injury, medicines and some types of dyslexia.

What colours do the “colour blind” perceive?

To try and understand colour defective vision, it is like viewing a colour television with either the red, green or with some people the blue colour adjustment knobs broken. So, we see the world in our own colours, or perceived individual colours depending on many genetic and other factors.

There are in fact eight classifications of colour blindness, plus individual variations with in each of the classifications.

The most common colour defect GREEN, (8% of the 10% of the colour blind) RED (1-2% of the 10% of the colour blind).  Now that does not mean it is just green-red colours but any colour with green-red in it. Hence they may see reds-greens-browns- as perhaps grey, green or brown depending on the light and any purples, violets as blue and some yellows and oranges may look the same. Then there are the external factors that affect all colour perception such as, background and adjacent colours, the type of light, size and purity of the colour.

What are some of the early symptoms of “colour blindness” in children?

The main symptom of CDV is in the difficulty of distinguishing colours or making mistakes when identifying colours. It is possible the child may just need time to learn his or her colours but the following are some clues to check:-

• Using the wrong colours for the object. (Trees, grass etc ;)
• Using dark colours. (Black and Blues)
• Low attention span when colouring in work sheets. (Loss of interest)
• Denial of colour issues. (Would rather be labeled slow etc ;)
• Problems in Identifying RED OR GREEN colour pencils or any colour pencil with RED or GREEN in the composition. (i.e.; PURPLE, INDIGO, BROWNS YELLOW – GREENS etc ;)
• Identification of colour may be made worse by low level light, small colour areas and colours of the same hue.

The symptoms are not limited to the above but as a guide to parents. (Contact for full list)
 

When should my child be recognizing colours?

Research has shown that children usually begin recognizing colors by about 2 1/2 years of age and most children can name at least one color. The child may just have an isolated delay or is a part of another condition or health issue? Some questions to consider would be:

• Does he recognize pictures in books?
• Can he count to 5?
• Does he know his letters?
• Can he spell his name?
• Does he know the primary colors (red, yellow, blue)?
• Do other family members have problems with colour vision

If he can do most of the above except colur recognition and there is a family history of color blindness then he may have some type of CDV. Sometimes family history can be difficult to trace particularly if it follows the female line.

Health Check and Colour Testing

It is important to have a health check (to rule out other issues) and the child to be professionally tested for colour defective vision before school, preferably by an eye specialist, university or optometrist.
Color blindness tests on the internet can be a good screening test but they depend on the type of monitor, calibration and the use of only 256 colours.

“Colour blindness” and education – Helping children cope

Most children with CDV are born with the condition so they may not know or do not want others to know or want to seem different and sometimes they will go to great lengths to hide it. If a teacher is not educated in the area of colour blindness he or she may misdiagnose the problem. The sooner the colour deficiency can be identified the sooner accommodation by parents, school and teachers can be made to help the child. The group has a full list of teacher strategy pamphlets depending on the age and stage at school.

Any colour strategies should be carried out in consultation with the parent, teacher and the school taking into account the type and degree of the colour defect including any adjustment feedback from the child.
The following are some basic hints to help the child cope with the condition in the early years while strategies and the colour defective vision condition is fully explored:

• Keep the child square on to the board, screen etc; away from any glare or lights.
• Cut a section off the end of colour pencils and put the colour name on it, (basic names only till he gets used to it?) then they will feel confident and get used to the shade for later recognition. It also becomes ownership of the colour thus improve his confidence.
• Explain to the child about their colour differences, what you see and ask him what he sees? The shape or where you would find the colour you call, will also help. Help him with your colours and let him convert for future reference. It will take time.

The above hints are just a few of the strategies that we can employ depending on the age and classification and degree of the child’s condition. (Contact us for a full list)

Secondary School and CDV

What can parents do to help their teenagers with colour blindness? Well, tell them tell them to visit our site because nothing possibly you say will help them with colour correction. Hopefully you know there is a colour perception problem by now, with your children, so diplomatic help is required for the new teenage colour challenges. Let us look at a few colour challengers they will meet at Secondary School and employment.

Colour challenges in some subjects may include: Geography, Chemistry, Science, Food Technology, Art, Biology, Assignments / Graphs / Charts, Computers, Web pages.  We have student strategies to help with most of these subjects as well as a full list of teacher strategies.

A good teacher could incorporate CDV as part of the lesson in most of the above subjects mentioned and or as part of inclusive assignment.

Colourful Career Challenges

By far the biggest challenge is Career options. Greater knowledge and understanding of CDV is required by school career councillors to help with career options.  It is not that we are “colour blind” is the problem but the type and degree of the condition. Thus everyone is different and may not perceive the same colours depending on what part of the brain and or cones in the eyes are affected.  Students should not be talked out of their dream career but make them aware of some challenges that lie ahead of them. (Some have successfully beaten those challenges) We are not against safety as long as the prospective student can do the job safety and if necessary the employer making some job modifications as for other disabilities.

How can the Colour Blind Awareness and Support Group Help?

If you are a teacher, parent or just need any assistance with colour defective vision including teaching /parent strategies, information, research papers and pamphlets please contact our group. We have fully detailed list e-pamphlets on all the above topics available free of charge. We also have a group of CDV volunteers to help you with information, hints and support for pre-school, primary, secondary schools and later career options with most conditions.

Contact:

Colour Blind Awareness and Support Group Australia.
Web site www.members.optusnet.com.au/~doverton
E-Mail colourblind@optusnet.com.au      

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