(I am told there is a "6" in there somewhere.)
I am color blind. There. I said it. I am red-green deficient, the most common form of color blindness, an hereditary condition carried on the "X" chromosome and hence found primarily in males. Females are typically carriers and it would appear that I received my color blindness through my mother. Oddly, I cannot possibly have color blind offspring: It is certain that any daughter I have will be a carrier, and it is equally certain that any son I have will be "clean." I have a sister, and there is a 50% chance that she is a carrier; if she is, then there is a 50% chance that any daughter she has will be a carrier and a 50% chance that any son she has will be color blind -- all of this, assuming "clean" spouses. (See genetics discussion here.)
I did not know I was color blind until I was 21. As a child I had trouble telling colors, but I always sought to explain this away. The predominant theory was that my parents, as immigrants in the country in which I was raised, had taught me linguistic borders for the gradations of color that were different from those of my home culture. I know this is a stretch but I had a Japanese friend who insisted that the "Go" traffic signal was blue and his belief always fascinated me. I had always had otherwise excellent vision and so did not visit an optometrist until the age of 21. It was there that I was administered the classic series of "hidden digit" color blindness tests (e.g., see image above) whereby the doctor, without hesitation, declared me "profoundly red-green colorblind." I felt validated -- I was not crazy all those years. Upon inquiry thereafter, my mother revealed that her father had always had trouble telling colors as well. Aha! It all now made sense.
These days, my color blindness is merely a nuisance. Being weak in seeing reds and greens usually manifests in difficulty identifying or distinguishing colors of which red or green is a component: telling blue from purple, dark green from dark brown or light pastel blue from light pastel pink. Often this requires asking salespeople color questions, especially in purchasing clothes. The scene goeth thus: "Excuse me, Miss, but I'm color blind; would you mind telling me what color this tie is?" It is then that I brace for one of the two stupid responses salespeople seem compelled to make: (1) Starting to point at things at random with loud, staccato bursts of "Really? Then what color is this? And this? And this?...." or (2) Turning suddenly sad and remarking sympathetically, "Gee, it must be awful seeing the world in black and white." Aargh!
Color blind people are one step removed from the direct visceral-linguistic connection that normally-sighted people take for granted. For us, color associations are in part intellectual: We deduce or infer colors, either from memory ("I've seen this building before and been told it's brown"), from abstract knowledge ("Everyone knows eggplants are purple, despite their looking black to me") or from context ("It's the top traffic light that's red"). Sometimes I may believe that something black or dark gray is maroon or purple instead. From this people conclude I am hallucinating these colors. In fact the process is this: Previously object "A" seemed gray but turned out to be maroon; hence now object "B" which seems equally gray could easily be maroon as well. In poor light, on little sleep, I can guess wrong and "see" reds or greens when none are present.
Color blindness is incurable. Some optical manufacturers attempt to convince the color blind community that a pair of tinted lenses can compensate for physiological imbalances, but by and large they are full of crap. In part this is because, if one has known one's colors a certain way for one's entire life, then a tinted lens is perceived by the brain as a contrivance, as unnatural and annoying as any color-tinted lens to a normally-sighted person. Please, my dear non-color-blind community, focus instead on ridding the world of the evils of color-coded weather maps ("Are they saying snow in Hawaii?"), color-based statistical charts ("Look dear, according to USA Today, more people herd ostriches than wear long johns... I think"), "sticky-dot" store pricing ("Excuse me, Sir, which of these CD's is on sale, the tan or the tan?") and color-callous signage ("Hmm, let's see... 'WARNING: BEFORE USING THIS DANGEROUS PRODUCT MAKE SURE YOU [apparent black rectangle]'").
Sigh....
Featured links:
I Am
Colorblind (a fellow sufferer's tale)
Neitz Lab Color
Blindness Simulation (a slide show)
One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish....
Color Vision
Color Matters
Color Science
Color Vision Store
Color & Color Vision
Are You Color Blind?
Colour Vision Defects
Color
Vision Confusion
Colors for the Color Blind
Colorblind (children's' site)
Web MD
on Color Blindness
Color Blindness (with tests)
Monkeys Make Us See Red
Color Blindness
Home Page
Shareware for the
Color Blind
Color Vision in the Dog (PDF)
St. Luke's Color Blindness Info
Colour Blindness & Astronomy
The Macula & Color
Deficiency
50
Facts About Color Blindness
Hidden Talents - Colorblindness
Creamer Color Chart (test for kids)
International Colour Vision Society
Retina (iPhone color identifier app)
EyeMDLink.com -- Color Blindness
Dr. Diana Heath on Color Blindness
What is Red-Green Colorblindness?
What's Color Blindness? (KidsHealth)
Color Blindness & LED Traffic Signals
Health Cyclopedia on Color Blindness
Can Color-Blind Users See Your Site?
WhatColor (PC tool for the color blind)
Is My Child
Color Blind? (DrGreene.com)
Human Factors Science
- Color Blindness
Color Vision Confusion in Web Site Design
How Do Things Look to
Colorblind People?
Sighting the First Sense - Colour Blindness
Why Are Things Colored? -- Color Blindness
Designing for People with Color
Deficiencies
International Color Consortium (Web colors)
Color Blindness: More Prevalent Among Males
Color Blindness in Text & Signs (a
slide show)
What Is Colorblindness and
the Different Types
King's College (London) Colour Blindness Tests
Considering the Color-Blind (in Web site
design)
Color
Blindness Gene Therapy in Monkeys (NPR)
World of Ophthalmology's Color Perception
Tests
Color Blindness Book Index
(BarnesandNoble.com)
Color Vision & Color Deficiency (in Web Site
design)
What Teachers Should Know About Colorblind Students
Color Vision Deficiency (American
Optometric Association)
Vischeck (simulates color blindness on an
image file you upload)
