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Preschool education

Get advice from other Mumsnetters to find the best nursery for your child on our Preschool forum.

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Original poster

pre-school targets with colour blind child

20 replies

StinkyPete · 05/09/2006 10:55

my 3.5yo ds has been confirmed colour blind by a hosiptal test (been to see consultant twice already). his nursery teacher is aware of this and has just given me the targets she has set him for this term. it includes learning 6 colours (green, orange, brown...) which i'm pretty sure he won't be able to see.
my dilemma is - should i ask her not to even try so as not to upset him; or let him keep these goals as presumably they will be incorporated into class activities and he may just benefit from it???

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NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 10:56

Um, my DS1 is colour blind (I just tested it myself - my dad's colour-blind, so I knew there was a 50% chance of each boy being colour-blind) but he's only bad with red and green - he can spot all the other colours. Very few colour-blind children actually see in black and white.

Original poster

StinkyPete · 05/09/2006 11:00

i know what you mean - i can tell he can see differences, and he can always identify yellow correctly and unusual colours like silver nad gold. he usually mixes up red, green and blue.
that's what makes me wonder whether to let her go ahead and try to teach him along with his peers??? just really don't like the thought of him getting upset because he can't do the things others can.

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NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 11:02

Hmmm, my DS1 hasn't been really bothered by his colour-blindness at all. He's nearly 5 now, and I finally bothered to test him, just because it was bugging him.

I think colour-blind people can get better at distinguishing their problem colours - I know my dad only has problems with certain shades of red and green.

NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 11:03

Oh, did the hospital do anything? I haven't bothered talking to the GP about this, as I don't see the point. I mean, I'll get it put on his medical record I guess, but it's not like they can do anything about it, is it?

Gobbledigook · 05/09/2006 11:04

I think he could probably still learn those colours. My brother is colour defective (he hates 'colour blind'!) and he knows that 'green' is 'green' even though it doesn't look the same green as it does to us iyswim.

It's really shades that he struggles on - he would know primary colours.

Original poster

StinkyPete · 05/09/2006 11:07

hopsital didn't do anything - didn't think they would i just really wanted to know. they've said they'll see him again in 9 months. they seem keen to do further tests involving putting drops in his eyes to numb them and having a good look. i've refused to let them do this as i know it can't be 'fixed' anyway.
my dad can look at a field of poppies nad not see anything. i'm sure ds's not as bad as that.

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NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 11:10

Why on earth would they want to do a retinal dilation? Stupid hospital. Retinal dilation is a) uncomfortable b) means you can't see for a while c) pointless and irrelevant.

Your DS will have the same type of colour-blindness as your dad. There are a few varieties, but the most common is red/green.

Original poster

StinkyPete · 05/09/2006 11:15

ooo, you obviously know what that is then... i was most unhappy the first time we went and they said, we're going to do this, blah blah blah. i just thought hang on a minute, it'll hurt, it'll blur his vision for the rest of the day... no you're blinking not. they put me down as 'refusing advice' and wrote to my gp. i was actually really proud of myself for not just letting them.

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NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 11:48

Yeah, yeah, I have really bad eyes myself, and have had retinal dilation lots of times (for a good reason, I'm at high risk of retinal detachment - not colourblindness!).

Maybe the drops are better these days, I just remember the effects being really bad when I was a kid, but I can't see why they'd do a retinal dilation for normal inherited colourblindness (you did tell them your dad is colourblind, right?). Hmmm, now I'm tempted to go see someone for DS1 just to ask why they'd do that!

Original poster

StinkyPete · 05/09/2006 11:50

they wanted to check the over all health of his eyes. i just figured he didn't need that doing

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NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 11:52

Yeah, sounds mad. Colour blindness has nothing to do with overall eye health, and unless there are other reasons for concern (headaches, problems seeing, etc), then I would absolutely say no to a dilation. They're really horrid.

MegaLegs · 05/09/2006 11:57

How did you first know your children were colour blind. My ds3 turned 3 in July. He has been at preschool for two terms and has real problems with colours. I'm not sure if it's just because he's not ready to learn them yet and forgets the name or if he has problems distinguishing them.

I spotted a colour blind 4 year old when I was teaching. He coloured all his pictures in shades of brown and green.

NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 12:31

I suspected my child would be colourblind, because my father is colourblind, which means my sons have a 50% chance of being colourblind. (You can carry colourblindness from your mother's side, too, but of course it's harder to know then.)

But he sometimes does manage to distinguish red and green. He really likes bright colours, he can tell his colours apart, and red is his favourite colour! So really it was just the genetic likelihood that made me suspect it.

MegaLegs · 05/09/2006 12:33

As far as I know there is no history of colour blindness in our family. Does that make it pretty unlikely that my ds is colour blind?

NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 12:35

Yeah, pretty unlikely. It's only your side of the family that counts. And it's pretty easy to be a carrier.

The other thing worth noting is, it's not like it can be treated or anything can be done about it really. I mean, it's worth knowing, and I'll let DS1's new school know about it. (I told the old school that it was possible.) But it's not like there's anything anyone can do that actually makes a difference.

MegaLegs · 05/09/2006 12:43

Yes, I know there is no cure, but like you say it's worth knowing if they have the condition. I think my ds is just having probs remembering the names.

Original poster

StinkyPete · 05/09/2006 12:48

i suspected because, ds's language has always been good and he could identify and name shapes, letters, numbers, specific vehicles, animals ect but still couldn't get even primary colours (with the exception of yellow). also i thought it might be more likely because my dad has it - but diidn't know until recently how significant this is.

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Original poster

StinkyPete · 05/09/2006 12:50

like nqc says, i knew it couldn't be cured nad indeed it doesn't really matter. but my ds is quite sensitive if he can't do something he thinks he should be able to. eg he won't run in a race if he thinks he's going to come last, once the others pass him, he just stops running. i didn't want him to get upset about it i was trying to teaching him colours and there was phyiscally no chance he was going to get it - that would just be too frustrating for us both iyswim

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Original poster

StinkyPete · 05/09/2006 12:51

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NotQuiteCockney · 05/09/2006 14:31

Ah, my DS1 has quite a different personality. He still pretty much refuses to accept that he can't see colours the same way as everyone else, and insists he's right, object X is really green, even when I say it's red. So I think a diagnosis is useful for his teachers, but he isn't bothered at all.

If your father is colourblind, your sons each have a 50% chance of being colourblind. If your mother's father is colourblind, you have a 50% chance of being a carrier, giving your sons a 25% chance of being colourblind. If your mother's mother's father was colourblind, your sons have a 12.5% chance of being colourblind. Etc. It can't hide down the male line, though, so if your dad's dad was colourblind, that doesn't actually matter at all.

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