The ophthalmologic checkups in early childhood are very important to detect and diagnose some visual anomalies early, in order to avoid further problems in learning.
One of these anomalies would be color blindness, a defect in vision that affects the perception of colors and that has a genetic and hereditary component. We tell you how children with color blindness see the world and what can we do to help them.
What is color blindness?
The retina of the human eye has two types of receptors: the cones, responsible for perceiving daylight and color, and the rods, for darkness and movement. In turn, there are three types of cones, and each of them perceives one of the primary colors: red, green and blue.
The combination of these colors results in about 8,000 shades and nuances that the human eye is able to perceive. But when one or more of the cones are malfunctioning or missing, color blindness occurs, which is a vision deficiency that prevents seeing colors properly.
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In Babies and more How much and how the newborn sees during the first months Color blindness is a genetic ophthalmological problem with a hereditary origin. This anomaly is not progressive, but not reversible, and affects men more often than women.Types of color blindness
Depending on the damage or absence of the cone or cones of the retina, color blindness will be more or less severe:
When there are anomalies in the cones, the patient will distinguish the colors but within a restricted spectrum; that is, you will not appreciate all the shades.
When only one cone is missing, the patient has difficulty distinguishing between red and green, or less frequently between yellow and blue. It is the most common form of color blindness.
When all the cones are missing, the patient is unable to distinguish any color and his vision is limited to a gray scale. However, this type of color blindness is very exceptional.
Although there may be other causes that, during adulthood, cause progressive loss of correct color vision, color blindness is usually diagnosed in childhood It is a genetic and hereditary problem.
This disorder is linked to the X chromosome, so that children who inherit an X chromosome with the defective gene will suffer from the disorder, while girls will only suffer if both chromosomes have the defective gene; something that happens only in 1% of cases.
How is this problem detected?
Being a genetic anomaly, the young child does not know if the way he has to perceive the colors is the correct one, as he has always seen them. Therefore, it is not usually until three or four years when the first suspicions arise, because at this age the child already communicates perfectly with us and is able to tell us what he is seeing.
In Babies and more Artificial Intelligence can detect vision problems in young childrenNormally, parents realize that they are facing a vision problem when the child confuses colors when playing or drawing. Though sometimes it is the professors who warn of this fact, especially in the Infant stage, where colors play a fundamental role in identifying concepts.
If in the family you have a history of color blindness and you suspect that your child may also suffer from this vision abnormality, it is advisable that you consult him as soon as possible with the specialist, as early detection is essential to guide the child in his perception of the world.
Usually, after two years the child could already perform a color blindness test, as there are tests focused at this age that are easy to understand for the little ones, with images that are easy to identify or follow with the finger.
What to do if my child has color blindness?
Make it known to the school
Before the diagnosis, the first thing you should do is make it known to the school so that teachers take it into account when working with him.
In any case, and although color blindness may entail certain initial learning difficulties (especially if the method used is based on colors), according to the Spanish Society of Pediatrics, students with color blindness have a performance similar to that of students with normal vision.
Explain this vision abnormality
As with any other health condition, it is advisable to inform the child about what happens to him, using words and explanations according to his age and understanding.
In addition, from the Association of Colorblindness-ASDNA recommend that if there are other members in the family with colorblindness talk to the child from empathy and trustWell, nobody better than another person who is living the same to understand and support the newly diagnosed child.
Facilitate the day to day
Certain daily activities that people without this vision problem do automatically, can become a real challenge for children with color blindness. Hence the importance of facilitating their day to day, teaching them tricks that can help them identify colors:
Teach him to remember things by order or position and not by color. A very clear example is that of traffic lights, so that they learn to locate the red light at the top and the green light at the bottom.
Organize your closet with labels so you know the color of the clothes, and you can combine them correctly when you start dressing alone. This point acquires special importance during adolescence.
Place labels on the colored pencils with the name of the color in question, to help you at school when drawing.
There are also applications for Android and Apple devices that can help detect colors.
In Babies and more A device developed by ophthalmologists at the University of Zaragoza lets you know how babies seePhotos | iStock
