If you have a boy you should know this (but probably have no idea)

[colourcaremum]

When I found out my 7 year old son thought Father Christmas wears a brown suit I was quite tearful. Now I know yours might think the same thing too and you probably don't realise it.

Did you know that your boy has a 1 in 12 chance (8%) of being colour blind BUT he won't have been tested for it in school (they haven't been able to afford testing for years)? His teachers are very unlikely to know anything about helping him (because they aren't trained in supporting colour blind kids). So YOU, his parent, are therefore the only one responsible for getting him tested, telling the school about it, checking he can see all the information in his textbooks and making sure he gets the help he needs for GCSE's, A levels etc. and of course, making life easier for him at home. Even your boy's nursery won't have a clue -just think how demoralising it can be to be colour blind in a nursery or primary school! To see how your son's world might appear have a look at www.colourblindawareness.org and please make sure you check out your boy as soon as you can.

I would love to hear from anyone who has experiences to share about the problems of being colour blind, especially in school. Girls have a 1 in 200 chance so don't forget to have your daughters tested too!

DS2 (who is 6) is colour blind. It was picked up on in nursery school and I took him to the optician and had it confirmed when he was 4. When he looks through those books of dotty pictures he can't identify the numbers in very many at all.

My brother is exactly the same, so it obviously runs in the family.

DS2's school have been very supportive, they make sure that he isn't put at a disadvantage because he can't see colours. It doesn't seem to bother him at all TBH.

Fairly good test for colour blindness here, by the way: www.archimedes-lab.org/colorblindnesstest.html

Comparing our household colourblind and non-colourblind vision, a clear example is test H: red/green blind sees a yellow circle on the right side of the image, normal vision also sees a red square on the left. Test G is just random dots with red/green blindness, a ship with normal vision. But the 35 and 29 on tests I and J are visible to all: they're presumably testing for more exotic forms of colour blindness.

Be careful of this test, though. Even on a properly calibrated screen, tests D and F are just about readable (97 and 45) to someone with well-diagnosed red/green blindness. This is down to the difference in how you're seeing a computer screen versus ink on a page. As even fewer people have properly calibrated printers, go and see an optician if you're unsure...

Tokyo's link

What do you reckon?

Comes back 100/1

Doesn't come back 2/1

(NB, CIC's have certain strictures over making profits. But there is no free public info about the structure of the company's ownership, so hard to tell re Grungeblob what's 'going on' financially)

my brothers are all colourblind, so v strong chance I'm a carrier.

It can be annoying but generally is no bother to them

My FIL was VERY colour blind but he worked as an electrician. He perceived colours as different shades of grey and never blew anyone up!

Wow DHOA

My son isn't colour blind - we had a free eye test at the opticians and it was one of the things they checked for.

Second son did the random colours thing aged 3 too - tell you it was green when it was yellow etc. - but he's OK now. Not had his eyes tested yet.

My husband is colour blind and never felt it was a problem for him. He went to art college, and now designs websites. They are not funny colours! He says the only thing he can't do is pass the colourblindness test.....

My ds's were etsted young as I (and ds1) have severe astigmatism so we had full screening; it's worth geting done.

Good to see a thread on it.

I came upon this posters thread on the SEN page, I said on there in case anyone cares... my Dd2 has a colour defecit, she can see colours but not shades very well. She has coped well in secondary scool, primary was more of a challenge when the teachers used coloured pens on the whiteboard.
My Dad and brother have the same problem, my brother found out when he took up indoor climbing.
I would suggest that all children have a vision test regularly anyway.
I am glad the OP started this thread but don't know why she got the hump and disappeared.