You notice your child has been pointing green as purple and colouring the sky green. Children often imagine the world to be in their colours, but what is it’s a different case? Colour Blindness might be the issue affecting your child’s inborn ability to detect natural shades. 

Colour blindness, also known as colour deficiency, is a shared vision impairment. In some children, colour blindness often goes undetected till their teenage years. Although colour blindness might not affect your child’s vision, it severely disrupts their lifestyle.

It’s time for a quick eye check-up. We at Salisbury Optometrist can help your child receive the proper eye care to treat colour blindness. Consultancy with an experienced eye care doctor will help your child visually perceive colours like everyone else. 

In this blog, we’ll discuss how quick care can cure colour vision deficiencies at an early age. 

How  Do We See Colours? 

Before indulging in colour blindness, you need to know how we see colours. When we look at objects, our retinas convert light rays into impulses. These impulses travel through the optic nerve to our brain. Our brain interprets these impulses into images. 

So, when you see an apple, the colour red reflects wavelengths of that colour and absorbs the other. If an apple is perceived as red, it is because the brain is trained accordingly. 

What happens during Colour Blindness? 

Individuals with colour blindness perceive natural colours differently than others. However, it is not black and white; for them, red can be green, while yellow is more greenish. Consulting the best eye specialist will diagnose the following symptoms:

• Struggle to differentiate particularly between shades of green, red and blue. 
• Struggle to differentiate variations in the brightness of colours. 

Types of Colour Blindness

There are three primary types of colour blindness:

Monochromacy 

Monochromacy is a case of colour blindness where an individual perceives the world in black and white. Total colour blindness is rare and might be found amongst 1 in 1000 people around the world. 

Red-Green Colour Blindness 

Four types of red-green colour blindness exist. An experienced eye care doctor will detect the exact colour vision deficiency your child has been facing. 

In some cases, individuals see no red, while others might see some visions of red. Similarly, some individuals see no green, while others might perceive some shades of green. 

Blue-Yellow Colour Blindness

In such cases of colour blindness, individuals might not have any blue cones or might see some shades of blue. However, yellow is perceived more as a shade of green in this case. 

How to Treat Colour Blindness in Children 

Before colour deficiency disrupts your child’s visionary ability, it’s better to receive quick eyecare. Here’s how our best eye specialist will suggest the best treatment for colour blindness in children: 

Prescribe Special Eyeglasses

With advancements in eyecare, individuals affected by colour blindness can be treated with special eyeglasses. It is wise to get a proper prescription for the lens type, functional ability, and flexibility to fit into any frame. 

Memorisation 

Apart from helping with the necessary eyewear, you need to conduct colour memorisation. You can teach your child to memorise colours in the sequence of traffic lights. 

Individuals facing red-green colour blindness can easily distinguish between red and green patterns. Memorising colours as per objects we use in our regular lifestyle will help your child to lead a flexible lifestyle. 

Labeling and Sorting 

As a parent or guardian with standard colour distinguishable ability, you can sort and label items that need matching. This requires a specific technique, and an experienced eye care doctor can help. 

For instance, you can sort and label your child’s colouring equipment and toys. On the other hand, label their edibles and, at times, ask them which colour they are perceiving different food items. 

Informing Educators

Consulting your eye care specialist will help you to inform your child’s educator further. Communicate with their pre-school and lower middle-school educators to follow a specialised schedule to teach your child with colour blindness. 

Teaching Common Colours 

Raising awareness about colour blindness is necessary. Consulting with the best eye specialist will help you to get a proper colour chart.

Teach your child about different colours every day. Teach them to discuss different colours with others. Raising self-awareness about colour blindness and ways to view colours will help your child cure colour vision deficiency from an early age.

In Conclusion

Colour vision deficiency can become a serious issue if it goes untreated and might cause severe disruption in life. We at Salisbury Optometrist can offer your child the proper guidance to learn about their colour blindness. Whether they need a pair of corrective glasses or awareness about colour blindness, we can help with all of it.