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Joey Knight was puzzled. What did his parents mean by color? Green shirt, red shirt, brown shirt, gray shirt. Huh? They all
looked pretty much the same to him. He figured his parents were just smarter than he was.
Approximately 1:12 males and 1:200 females have some degree of color vision deficiency (CVD) or colorblindness.
Pre-school books, puzzles, games and other toys are colored intensely enough that most children can tell the colors apart,
although they may not look the same to the child with CVD as they do to most people. However, two percent of the male population
(and a rare female) cannot see red or green at all, and they confuse other colors as well. These children may not catch on
easily to pre-school games that are based on color. They may also resist playing with puzzles that rely as much on color as
on shape. They may not be as enthralled with crayons as are most children. They'd just as soon draw with a fat pencil. They
may not see optical illusions that are easy for other children to see. These children who are severely affected by CVD see
all the reds, oranges, yellows and greens as one color and all the blues, violets and purples as another.
Children who are mildly or moderately affected with CVD may have difficulty matching light shades of colors, especially
red (or pink) and green. They often confuse these colors with other colors, such as gray or tan. Those who see red faintly
confuse blue and purple because they don't recognize the red in purple.
From everyday conversation children learn that "grass is green," "the sky is blue," etc. To help children
with CVD learn color names (but not always recognize the color itself), parents can label objects in their homes, like a picture
of a "Bear" for a brown couch or a "Fire Engine" for red drapes, or a "Sun" for a yellow wall
(although most children with CVD recognize yellow). Parents can also teach their youngsters the first letter of color names
printed on crayons so the children can identify them more easily. They can also encourage pre-school teachers to reinforce
this teaching-learning process in the classroom.
It's important -- for children with and without CVD -- not to point out "mistakes" or to chide children for
not naming colors "correctly." Some children -- and adults -- simply don't see as many colors as other people do.
Also, it's better for parents to say, "I like that green shirt" rather than ask, "What color is your shirt?"
A mother with a preschooler who had a moderate CVD said her husband had become extremely frustrated with their son because
he had tried to teach the boy color names. No wonder the boy couldn't learn color names. Some colors, especially lighter shades,
looked identical to him.
Another mother with a son with CVD said she thought her son had a language problem. "I thought he wasn't understanding
the words," she said, when he couldn't tell color names.
A child with CVD can be told he's like his (maternal) Grandpa or perhaps a (maternal) uncle. Usually, the type of the
CVD as well as its degree of the deficiency runs in families. The child observes that the older family member has coped well
with his CVD. There's no need in the early elementary years to delve into occupations that require accurate color vision.
A delightful book that explores feelings associated with colors is Mary Le Duc's Hailstones and Halibut Bones. This book
can be enjoyed by parents and children regardless of their color vision.
More information may be obtained in SEEING COLOR: IT'S MY RAINBOW, TOO and COLOR IS IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER.
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