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Are your DC colour blind?

45 replies

Cupidity · 23/09/2020 23:24

Recently suspected that ds is colour blind. A trip to the opticians today confirmed it. He can't see red, orange, pink, and greens.

Just curious to know if anyone else has colour blind DC and if they've had any issues because of it (apparently he won't be able to work as an electrician or pilot - not that he's ever shown any interest in these jobs!)

OP posts:
PuttingOnMyParts · 27/09/2020 19:01

Both of my DS are, kind of expected as my grandad was. He actually worked as a bomb disposal expert during WW2 - we always thought that he was teasing us but apparently he had someone accompany him to tell him what colour the wires were Smile

SmileyClare · 27/09/2020 19:04

Yes my son's are both red/green colour blind and it really doesn't impact their day to day lives. Agree, about gaming, they both struggle on Fifa if one team are wearing a green strip and the other a red! Some XBox games have a colour blind mode you can switch on in settings.

There are advances in manufacturing colour blind "correcting" lenses and there are glasses on the market,but they only increase the contrast between red and green, they don't magically make the person see a colour they can't.

Gilead Its interesting you and dd are both colour blind. That's quite unusual, meaning your mum would have been a carrier (not necessarily having it herself) and your dad would have been colour blind.

Your daughter's father would have also been colour blind to pass it to her on his X chromosome.

It's such a non issue for most people that many don't know they have it or only get it diagnosed in adulthood so your dad may not have even known!.
People's brains learn to distinguish between different shades of Brown and they learn to call a particular shade green even if they don't see the green as others do.

Natsku · 27/09/2020 19:05

I'm wondering if DS is, he calls green things brown and all shades of red he calls pink but not sure how much of that is just toddlerness or whether its that he sees them differently. What age can they check for colour blindness?

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SmileyClare · 27/09/2020 19:12

Most colour blind tests are a picture of a number in red dots on a background of green dots. The child has to read the number. There are others where they are asked to trace a red snake on a green background with their finger.

It's probably hard for a toddler to do those tests. You can look at them online but your toddler might find it really boring!

I think mine were diagnosed at 4yrs. It useful to know for school, although it was never much of a problem. Sometimes they got muddled up with coloured graphs or maths questions. It's helpful to let their teacher know in case.

RandomMess · 27/09/2020 19:13

DD had issues on the climbing wall, also some odd combinations of clothing...

It's important to know as you could sit exams where there are graphs or bar charts with colours on they can't distinguish between...

It also explained why she was a bit prone to mistaken identity of friends/people in the street! You can look on line to see comparison photos of what you see and what someone with x colour blindness sees. Have to say there isn't much range of colour in her life Sad

SmileyClare · 27/09/2020 19:22

RandomMess I looked onkine at a how a colour blind person sees a sunset and it was very undramatic. Not the end of the world but quite surprising how things are different.

Flamingolingo · 27/09/2020 19:39

@SmileyClare the toddler ones are pictures - so can you see the duck/fish/car?

SmileyClare · 27/09/2020 19:47

The toddler ones are pictures, can you see the duck, fish, car?

My sons were diagnosed at 4 but that was over 15years ago! I'm sure you're right that the tests are more toddler friendly these days. I suppose a 2 year-old might struggle to concentrate or refuse to do it at that age. Maybe some opticians might say it was "inconclusive".

Flamingolingo · 27/09/2020 20:07

To be honest, I think most parents who are looking for it (because of a family history) will spot colour blindness quite easily. For us it’s the red/brown/green muddle. And also very occasionally some pink/blue. But at the same time, I grew up with my dad as a near constant source of amusement in this regard.

SmileyClare · 27/09/2020 20:36

True Flamingo when the optician broke the news to me that my youngest was colour blind I just nodded and said I know, his brother is and my younger brother is too. Grin

MaxinesTaxi · 27/09/2020 20:39

Most of the men in my family are colour blind, it’s completely normal for us really. I don’t think my son is, but you never know.

Mangofandangoo · 27/09/2020 22:37

DH is and didn't know untill he applied to be a fireman in his mid 20's. Hasn't held him back but I don't ask him to put the bins out 😬

MrsMcMuffins · 27/09/2020 22:39

My father is and both my sons. It does interfere with daily life but sometimes I get reminded when they see a colour completely different to me.

Blueemeraldagain · 27/09/2020 22:55

My male partner is colour deficient (red/green) as is his twin brother. His oldest brother is colour blind (full blown- black white grey).
It hasn’t held any of them back bedsides some dodgy clothes combos. My partner is a semi-pro football referee and besides the occasional orange cone on green grass moment and keeping his red and yellow card in separate pockets, he does great.

If I can hi-jack for a moment? Just because there are knowledgeable people on this thread? If my partner is red/green colour blind and so is my mother (I and my father have no colour deficiency and neither do my partner’s parents). What are the chances of our children being colour blind/deficient?

Cupidity · 27/09/2020 23:05

This is all so fascinating. Especially the genetic stuff. I don't this my dad was colour blind, but my mum's brothers (so my uncles) are. Only found that out about them when I told my aunt ds is colourblind in a random chat.

The only reason I discovered it was because he had a bright orange bathbomb in his bath and commented on what a lovely green colour it was.... I think as a toddler he did get colours mixed up when playing colour games but I just put that down to him being little andd getting confused.

DS is 6, and opticians were more than happy to test for colour blindness using those dotty number pictures.

OP posts:
InTropicalTrumpsLand · 27/09/2020 23:41

@Blueemeraldagain

My male partner is colour deficient (red/green) as is his twin brother. His oldest brother is colour blind (full blown- black white grey). It hasn’t held any of them back bedsides some dodgy clothes combos. My partner is a semi-pro football referee and besides the occasional orange cone on green grass moment and keeping his red and yellow card in separate pockets, he does great.

If I can hi-jack for a moment? Just because there are knowledgeable people on this thread? If my partner is red/green colour blind and so is my mother (I and my father have no colour deficiency and neither do my partner’s parents). What are the chances of our children being colour blind/deficient?

Your family genetics say you are a carrier and your partner is affected. So a son would have a 50% chance, because he will necessarily inherit one of your X chromosomes (and you have one healthy one and one affected one). He would inherit your partner's Y chromosome, so no concerns there (as someone mentioned upthread, colour blindness is inherited through the X chromosome, not the Y). What is different is if you have a daughter. That would mean she is AT LEAST a carrier (because in order to be female, she necessarily has to inherit your partner's affected X chromosome) but she also has a 50% chance of being colourblind herself, which would happen if she happens to inherit your affected X chromosome. Two affected X chromosomes equal the condition manifesting in females

Hope this helps!

Sleepinyourofficeinstead · 28/09/2020 08:24

We'll go back in a year as suggested when he'll be 5.5y, but we have a special book we got free at birth with sight tests in it (Zookeeper Joe I think it's called) and he fails the colourblind tests in that.

I'm very, very short-sighted, none of my other 4 siblings are at all Hmm so I'd be happy if he had decent eyesight even if he was colour-blind.

RandomMess · 28/09/2020 09:56

My daughters isn't genetic and very rare with it being blue/green 🤷🏽‍♀️

Gilead · 28/09/2020 14:10

No idea if my father was colour blind. I think ex dh was, but he denied it. Couldn’t be anything less than perfect.

Blueemeraldagain · 29/09/2020 17:37

@InTropicalTrumpsLand

Thank you so much for taking the time to give such a detailed response. How interesting that my male and female children have an equal chance of being colour blind when it’s normally a male dominated condition (due to the XY chromosomes).

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