I was just having a talk with my husband over dinner yesterday about colorblindness. The reason this conversation was brought up was, in the back of mind, I am wondering if any of my kids will inherit the colorblindness gene. Why you might ask? Well, in my family, my grandfather was severely colorblind. He was never able to drive. He was limited in what he could do in life. He struggled his whole life with colorblindness.
I am very grateful that I did not inherit this gene from him. I am able to get behind the wheel of a car! I am able to practice dentistry and readily distinguish the colors! I am able to live life much more easily than my grandfather had! I did not live in his shoes, but I always try to imagine how hard life was for him. Because of this, I always think of Zane and in the back of my mind, worry if he will inherit this gene. Lucky for us, Hayley did not inherit it.
Colorblindness is a hereditary gene that is prevalent in 1 out of 12 males, and 1 out of 20 woman. The basic definition is the inability to distinguish between selected colors. The most common colors that people have difficulty with is the reds, greens, and blues. To these people, they can’t see the differences in each of these colors. These days, there is a colorblind test that can be done to see if you inherited the gene. The Isihara color plate test contains 38 plates that are each composed of a pattern of different color dots. The plates has the dots arranged within a certain pattern and places a number inside. Upon examination of this test, one can see if they have inherited colorblindness. I took this test and as I already knew, I did not have the gene.
What happens if you had colorblindness and there was a colorblind test. Would you go for it? I recently found out about a new color correction system developed by Dr. Azman, called the ColorCorrection System. This treatment is based on the approach to change color vision by changing the wave length of color going into the eyes by using contacts or glasses. I have to say that I wish this was around when my grandfather was suffering. I am sure this technique can help so many people who are living with colorblindness.
So many professions these days require you to successfully pass a colorblindness test. Do you know that if you suffer with colorblindness you will not be admitted to the military or law enforcement academies. These professions and others, including being a firefighter, or an electrician, require you to take and pass the Isihara color plates test. I hope I could shed some light on colorblindness and offer you some treatment options in this post.
*This is a partnered post. All my opinions are my own and not swayed by outside sources.
My ex-brotherinlaw was color blind, but he had this weird nack of being able to pick out the pretties clothes for my sister. It was really interesting.
The test is easy and painless so that is a nice thing but my cousin is color blind and I seen how he struggled at times. I am so glad to hear about the new corrective procedure. Finaly technology has caught up. Thanks for the info. Very informative.
wow – I didn't know how high those numbers are for boys!
Interesting – I have girls so maybe I am lucky! Very interesting – I will tuck away and hopefully not need it!
My mothers boyfriend is colorblind. He is able to drive, but only because he knows that the top light is red and the bottom is green. He can't tell the difference between reds and greens. He can see blue. From what I know the it is mostly males that have it and females are the carrier, and the ones the pass it on since the gene is higher up on the X chromosome and the y chromosome is so short it can't "buffer" it so to speak. To my knowledge no one in either families have it and hopefully Zane will not and neither kids are a carrier for it.
I hadn't really thought about color blindness before. I am glad to hear that they are finally coming up with some treatments for it!
I don't think we have any color blindness in our family. *knock on wood* Not that I know of anyway. Great info for those who do!
I never knew the numbers were so high! I think Kevin has a small issue, so I hope the girls don't get it from him.
I never knew that someone who was severely color blind can't drive. I had a few friends in high school who were color blind and they were able to get their licenses without a problem. At youth group conferences they did ask some of their female friends to make sure their outfits matched before walking around in them or need someone at home to help.
Could it have just been the time your grandfather grew up that made it so he could not drive? There were so many "disabilities" in the past that that made it so that those afflicted were not treated normally and allowed to do the things their peers did while today they are treated normally and helped to overcome their issues. Like today someone learning to drive that is color blind would be taught the shapes of the sign and to read the words instead of looking at color. Like red at the top yellow in the middle green at the bottom they don't need to see it as gree just where on the traffic light the light is the brightest?
Every time some mentions colorblindness I am reminded of the brother in Little Miss Sunshine. That part made me really sad. 🙁
I can't imagine being color blind. It must be awful. I am very influenced by the colors around me.
It would be terrible to be color blind. I do have one aunt who was mildly color blind. It is hard to believe that they have not made more steps to correct color blindness. Limiting the entry into the military is too bad.
I often wonder if Braden will be color blind, as my dad is. He doesn't know ANY colors yet, whereas he's learned a lot of other stuff very quickly. Who knows!
This is always interesting to me. Its interesting that men see color differently than women and could suffer from color blindness. Thanks for the info. Something to definitely think about.
I dated a guy who was color blind, and I forgot and said it was the blue one, or whatever, it makes me think how people who can see color take it for granted.
It is sad that some people cannot witness all the grandeur of colors our world displays. Thank you so much for this informative article. I learned quite a bit from it.
What a great post!! Thanks for sharing! Wonderful to see that technology is finally catching up!
Colour blindness is not something I had really thought about, I think you just take it for granted when everything is ok. Im so glad I read your post, thanks x
Wow, I had no idea that they had glasses to correct colorblindness now!
That's interesting. I guess my color blind friend is lucky the military didn't test for it in the early 70's!
My grandfather was colorblind and I knew that it was hereditary so I was concerned when I had two sons that they would have inherited it. Fortunately they both are fine and I don't believe they carry the gene.
Thanks for all the info and for the hope for those that do have colorblindness.
wow! I don't really know much about this topic because I don't know of anyone who is colorblind…I might, but it never came up before! Thanks for enlightening me:) I also had no idea that they could fix this! Medicine has come a long way!
Just an fyi and tip: If you do ever happen to have a student or kid who is color blind, know that this can impact their math in school…particularly where graphs/ pie charts are concerned – where colors distinguish one bar from another. One way to deal with this is to copy the pages of the text book that the graphs are on, this allows for the colors to be turned into shades of gray, which are easier for the student to read.
I have never known someone who was colorblind, thanks for the information!
Interesting facts.
Interesting Post. My Dad is colour blind but I am not.
I never knew that colorblindness was a gene that could be passed on. Very interesting!
Wow, I had no idea that they had glasses to correct colorblindness. That is very cool. I know some people that have this issue.
Very interesting topic, which you don't hear about very much. I dated someone briefly many years ago who was color blind. He lived and worked in nyc, so he wasn't dependent on driving a car, but I always wondered how his color blindness might limit other things in his life. You never hear about research on color blindness (or at least i've never heard of it) and it is so important to those that are affected. I'm happy and impressed to hear this new development and hope it will help a lot of families. Great post to bring awareness to this topic. -Bella
This post reminded me that I know someone who is colorblind but it doesn't really effect him. We did have a hard time matching his tie to my dress in high school for winter formal though 😉
we just found out that my brother is a little colored blind. He was eating an M&M one day pick one up and then the other M&M changed colors he started laughing
Great article Mel! I had a friend who went to school to work in Marine Transportation (mate/captain on a ship) and seeing colors is essential. He wears color corrective lenses (contacts I believe) and has no problems.