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Jim Doane's story sheds light on the answer.
Black finger paint was Jim Doane's choice in kindergarten. "Nobody
wanted black," he explained, "so it was always available." Because he used so much black, his teacher thought he was depressed
and sent him to the school nurse who determined he was colorblind. In first grade he was sent to the principal's office because
he didn't follow the red line to the cafeteria. He learned to read well in spite of colored-coded workbooks. Colored maps
sometimes gave him pause. He was humiliated in high school because he passed the ball to a member of the team with the red
jersey instead of to his own team member with the green jersey. Chemistry class was a "nightmare" because he couldn't identify
color changes. He wanted to be a physician but was told in college that doctors couldn't be colorblind.
Jim Doane's
experiences are not unusual -- two percent of males have CVD as severe as his, and 1:12 males, and 1:200 females have a lesser
degree of CVD. If Jim and his teachers had known more about his condition, he might have been better able to adapt.
What teachers need to know:
-There is no cure for color vision deficiency;
-One in 12 males and one
in 200 females have some degree of CVD;
-Be sure that your reading and math programs are not based on color;
-Include
color vision deficient children in art activities. Although they may not be able to enjoy color, they will enjoy form and
texture;
-Students who are color deficient will require more time to distinguish one color from another;
-Be
aware of your speech -- for instance, some students can't understand, "Just push the green button"
-Students develop
creativity and ingenuity in dealing with a color-coded world;
-Although the majority of cases of color deficiency
are inherited, rare cases are acquired by accidents or medications;
-Vocational counselors should know about individuals'
color vision status because job choices can be affected by CVD;
For more information, see Seeing Color: It's My
Rainbow, Too for children, and Color is in the Eye of the Beholder for teens and adults.
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