1. Thank Your Folks for Color Blindness
Color blindness is hereditary, meaning that parents pass the condition down to their children. Although it's not a serious complication, color blindness can pose some problems. Colors often look very much alike, causing the person with color blindness an inability to tell certain colors apart. A color-blind driver should memorize the placement of lights in a traffic signal to know when to stop rather than relying on the color of the light.
2. This Is Just a Test
Tests to determine color blindness include the Ishihara plates test, which consists of looking at pictures of colored dots with patterns of slightly different colors placed within these dots. You might see a field of green dots with a brown number or shape hidden within the green dots. People with normal color vision easily differentiate between the two colors, while those with color blindness can't see a difference, and can't see the number or shape.
3. Cones Do the Work
Cones, or cells on the retina that perceive color and shades of color, pick up on different colors based on their wavelengths. Certain cones see shorter wavelengths, like blue and its shades, while other cones see medium wavelengths like green. The longest light wavelengths interpreted by the third type of cone are reds. If damage occurs to these cones through heredity or an eye injury, or if you develop only the cones that see one or two different colors instead of all three, color blindness can occur.
4. Sometimes Cones Don't Work
Protanomaly occurs when cones lack the sensitivity to interpret the long wavelengths, causing reds to show up weaker than normal. Protanopia is when your eye has none of these particular cones so that reds might not show at all. Medium wavelengths seen incorrectly result in deuteranomaly, or weakened greens. These missing cones, or deuteranopia, may prevent you from seeing the color green altogether. The most rare conditions are tritanomaly and tritanopia. These occur when the cones that see the shortest wavelengths weaken or eliminate blue hues.
5. Work Around Color Blindness
Parents and teachers can help children cope with color blindness by labeling coloring implements, like crayons and colored pencils. Many colors look the same to a color-blind person, so having the written word as a reference helps. Creating a stark contrast between the chalkboard and the color of chalk used also aids a colorblind child. Reassure children and let them know it's all right that they see certain colors as alike. A classroom buddy can help with assignments that require color vision.
