My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

General health

who to go to re. colour vision deficiency in 4yo?

18 replies

MummyPig · 23/09/2006 23:28

My ds1 has just started in reception and in the last couple of weeks I have realised he has a colour vision deficiency. To him, dark green looks like red, and turquoise looks like blue. He also uses 'grey' to describe many other colours, and I don't think it's through lack of vocabulary. I've read up about it, but mostly on US websites like this one . I've also mentioned it to his teacher. But I don't want him to be dismissed as 'difficult' or 'slow' at this early stage just because he could find it hard to distinguish colours in books etc., and might not have the confidence to explain why to the adults around him. (He doesn't mind challenging me but he's more reticent with other adults!)
I think I should take him for a test to confirm it - but who should I speak to first? I'm inclined to just take him into a local optician but this NHS webpage seems to imply that (a) he will get a test at school sometime this year and (b) that since he is under 5 I should talk to the GP, HV or school nurse first. I have experience with my GPs dismissing me as an overanxious parent so I don't really want to go to them. The HV is okay but I can imagine she will say it's not her area of expertise. I have no idea what the school nurse is like.

OP posts:
Report
SueW · 24/09/2006 08:06

Just take him for an eye test - it's free, all you have to do is sign a form.

As it's his first test they will give him a colour test too - it's a book with pcitures in and from when DD did it, I remember she could see very clearly the picutres she was supposed to.

Report
NotQuiteCockney · 24/09/2006 08:36

Oh, you can test online. My DS1 is colourblind, but I've not bothered going to the GP or whatever, I knew he had a 50% chance, tested online, he is colourblind. There's nothing you can do other than acknowledge it, really. Do you have colour-blindness in the family?

Report
FrannyandZooey · 24/09/2006 08:38

Why did ds have a 50% chance of being colour blind, NQC? Is dh colour blind?

Report
NotQuiteCockney · 24/09/2006 08:39

Here is the test we used.

Report
NotQuiteCockney · 24/09/2006 08:39

Oh, you already linked to that site. Did you try their test?

Report
trinityrhino · 24/09/2006 08:42

If I were you I would talk to the health visitor about gettinghim properly checked out

There are diferent types of colour blindness and to know exactly what he has trouble with will enable you to help him as much as possible

my dad is red/green colour blind but to such an extent that he has almost no colour in his life

noone diagnosed him when young and he suffered quite alot because of that
Please take him to a professional so you can get all the info you need to support him

Report
NotQuiteCockney · 24/09/2006 08:43

No, no, it's carried on the mother's line. DH isn't colour-blind (his dad is, but that has no affect on us).

Ok, um.

Basically, to be colourblind, all your Xs have to have the colourblind gene on them. As my father is colour-blind, I know one of my Xs has the colourblind gene on it. My DSes have their single X from me. So they each have a 50% chance of being colourblind, depending on which X they got.

Report
NotQuiteCockney · 24/09/2006 08:44

effect. Not affect.

I probably should take him to the HV or GP, but I don't quite see the point. My dad's colourblindness is relatively mild, DS1 still definately sees colours. I've told his school he's colourblind, so they're expecting it.

Report
FrannyandZooey · 24/09/2006 08:46

Good explanation, NQC

I even understood it as well

Report
Twiglett · 24/09/2006 08:54

I know I'm not colour blind yet still I took that test .. and another one after it

why did I do that? Gin

Report
SofiaAmes · 24/09/2006 15:03

My dh is green/red colorblind and found it hard as a child. However since his father was (coincidentally) also colorblind, at least the family were aware of it as a condition. I think that the most important thing is to let his teachers know. Don't forget that if he can't see green or red (he sees them as gray), then he won't see those color within others. So purple will appear blue to him.

Report
NotQuiteCockney · 24/09/2006 18:19

Oh, ran into an optician friend at the park today, who works in our local hospital. She said there was nothing they could do re: colourblindness, and no associated problems. (But she did recommend that my DSes see an optician regularly as I'm quite severely short-sighted, and we might use the colourblindness as an excuse to do that at the hospital rather than on the high street.)

Report
SueW · 24/09/2006 22:34

I'm a huge advocate of eye tests.

DD's eyesight was perfect for years but since DH & I both wear glasses, I took her along with me to the optician. She was first tested - including colour test - when she was 5yo iirc.

The following year she needed glasses, then the following year quite a change again so since then she has been on six-monthly appointments to ensure she can see ok in school.

Why are you so keen to go to hospital rather than high st NQC?

Report
NotQuiteCockney · 24/09/2006 22:38

Back home, in Canada, the high street opticians are nothing like opticians here (in Canada, you never find opticians in hospitals! Only opthalmologists!). Because I have complicated eye issues, personally (am about a -6.5 or something, am future diabetic, and likely candidate for retinal detachment), I am twitchy about eye tests and safety. (Of course, ha ha, I've not had my eyes looked at for three years, so really, I suck.)

I know that high street opticians are fine in this country, I know they're actually qualified and stuff, but I'm just not really comfortable with them.

Do kids get free eye tests on the high street?

Report
SueW · 24/09/2006 23:03

Yes, free eye tests and glasses.

If you develop diabetes, you will too.

See here for who qualifies.

I don't really understand the difference between opticians, optometrists and opthamolgists but I know I get a very thorough examination/test when I go. Plus, since I wear gas permeable contacts, I get a fitting check for those once a year which is done by the person who specialises in GP lenses (only one, and she's only in one day a week).

Report
SueW · 24/09/2006 23:06

Free eyetest is once per year normally but because DD's is six-monthly under medical advice, all tests and scrip changes required are free.

Oh and repairs to kids' glasses are free too, which is great. We had to buy a spare pair initially (£20 for frames and lenses) but since then we have just retained the old pair with old scrip in in case of emergencies (fewer as she gets older).

Report
chipmonkey · 24/09/2006 23:10

MummyPig, I'm an optometrist and it's perfectly routine for us to carry colour vision checks on children. There are now special coloured filters (Chromagen) to enable people with colour defects to distinguish colours more easily. Not all opticians supply these lenses but tbh its not usually regarded as a "problem" that needs correction unless your ds wants to pursue a career i.e airline pilot/electronic engineer) which requires good colour vision. Usually just alerting the teachers is enough. Do get it checked but I remember my own ds called purple black for a long time and he is quite smart and has normal colour vision!

Report
chipmonkey · 24/09/2006 23:15

An opthalmologist is a doctor who specialises in eyes.
In the UK and Ireland most people refer to optometrists as opticians. I do it myself because it's easier than explaining what you do over and over again, but an optician can also mean a dispensing optician who doesn't carry out eye examinations but dispenses spectacles.
Shall I talk about orthoptists now or are you all bored enough?

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.