Color blindness is usually due to a retinal defect, and it is a genetic problem of hereditary origin. If you think your child has trouble distinguishing colors, red from green or blue from yellow, he may be color blind.
One in 12 boys is, and 1 in 200 girls, and is that men are more likely to be color blind, all men who inherit an X chromosome will suffer from this vision disorder. In addition, color blindness can have different graduations, and to determine what type it is, a color vision examination must be done.
Steps to follow to detect if your child is color blind
We give you some tips to detect if your child is color blind, for example when he begins to learn colors, you must be alert. Your child may be confusing the name of the color, or it may be that he does not distinguish between them clearly. Ninety percent of color blind children are weak to red or green, that is, they do not distinguish between them.
Another way to find out if your child is color blind is play with him with the colors of the fruits and ask him: what color is this pear? What color is this apple? This way you will check, playing, and when the little one is more relaxed if he really confuses the colors.
And above all, if you suspect that your child is color blind, the best thing to do is go to the ophthalmologist so that you can confirm the diagnosis and the degree of color blindness through different tests. This will give you different guidelines for your child to live with this disease, since there is no cure.
Color vision scanning methods
Several vision screening methods of the colors, and the ophthalmologist or yourself at home, you can do it. The easiest way to confirm normal color vision is the Ishihara test. The Farnsworth test, more complex, and allows to discriminate the type of color affected and its intensity. We briefly explain what they consist of.
The Isihara test is a quick and easy method of identifying hidden numbers and painted in different colors than the circles that contain them, like the one you see in the image. So it is essential that children know the numbers. The number 74 is what boys and girls with normal vision see, while those with dyschromatopsia or trichromacia see 21 and children with achromatopsia see nothing.
El Farnsworth test detects different types of color blindness between fifteen different color groups. The test is made up of 100 capsules of different colors and each shade differs from another by a slight gradual variation. In addition, the test contains 4 trays with 25 capsules, and each tray represents a range of the color spectrum. The test is carried out in a maximum time of 8 minutes
How to help your color blind child
Children almost never openly manifest the symptoms of an ophthalmological disease, or rather they do not know exactly what it is. The early detection of color blindness will help us to follow some guidelines, because although color blindness is not a serious disease it can generate some difficulties in children.
For example, when the method of learning in preschool or in certain subjects based on color, color blind people will perform differently than children with normal vision. Therefore, it is important to talk to teachers about this condition, to make an adequate curricular adaptation. There are textbooks adapted for color blind children.
Color blindness usually does not cause a disabling and appreciable disability. These children have almost always been taught colors by associating them with symbols. At present, glasses are being developed and tested to correct vision in certain cases of color blindness. We hope we have helped you better understand your child's situation.