How to Help Children with Color Vision Deficiencies

Guest Authored by: Ekaterina Vargataia of ColorWill

My child is colorblind what should I do?

This is the first question that most parents have when they find out that their child is colorblind.

Probably, like most parents with a colorblind child, you spent a lot of hours online looking for answers. This process can take weeks and sometimes months, since we have different answers and opinions online about what you should and shouldn’t do.

Some people suggest that; "Color blindness is not a big deal and just let the kids learn their way", while others have the opposite idea and suggest informing your child's school and teachers, helping a child with color-related projects, and taking it seriously.

Before we get into the details, we would like to say a few words about color vision deficiencies.

The terminology of the word "colorblind" can be misleading. Most of the colorblind people can see many colors but not as broad as others. Red-green color deficiency is the most common type. In each school class, there is an average one colorblind child.

At ColorWill we believe that children with color vision deficiency require support from their parents to help their child’s healthy development and to learn how to deal with color-related situations with less pressure and stress.

Here is a list of essential things you need to know as a parent:

• What Is the Color Deficiency?
• Symptoms of Color Vision Deficiencies
• Causes of Color Blindness
• Types of Colorblind Tests
• Different Types of Color Blindness
• Colors Your Child Cannot See
• How to Explain Color blindness in a Good Light to Your Child (Not Disability)
• Everything about Colorblind Glasses
• Tricks to Help Your Child Use Colors in School for Drawing, and Painting
• How to Help Your Child Memorize the Color of Things Around
• How to Use Color Filters on the Phone and Computer
• Where to Find Books Related to Color Deficiency for Your Child
• How to Answer Their Color-related Questions
• How to Teach Colors in the Way That a Colorblind Person Should Learn
• Why Some Colorblind Children Are Fussy Eaters and How to Cope with That
• Useful Applications Designed for People with Color Vision Deficiencies
• Common Problems Related in Sports for Colorblind People
• What Is His/her Favorite Color?
• Color-coding in School
• How to Design Your Child’s Bedroom
• How to Teach Primary and Secondary Colors to Make Sure your Child Can Learn the Basics
• Latest Treatments & cures for color blindness
• Color Matching to Use colors
• Learning Basics about matching Outfit
• Career Restriction
• Color Blindness Effect on Confidence, and Relationship
• How to Inform Teachers and School about Your Child’s Condition
• Useful Information to Share with Teachers

In the past, there wasn’t much information about color blindness that most of the people with color deficiency either lived without knowing it, or simply ignored this fact and had to find ways to cope with color-related challenges. Till this day, many people don’t know they are color deficient (20%-30% of colorblind people), and many find out upon choosing a career path.

The power of colors in our life:

Color is a powerful form of communication and plays a vital role in your daily life. It’s used for commercial, medical, cultural, and educational purposes just to name a few.

Many colorblind people avoid mentioning their condition, fearing they might be judged or miss out on opportunities. Research shows that there is more to color blindness than just a color deficiency; it can significantly impact the quality of your child's life without you noticing.

Students who are color blind may:

● have trouble with certain assignments or projects that require them to use color
● can feel self-conscious or frustrated about their color blindness
● be at risk for teasing or bullying because of color blindness
● joining art classes, sports, and other extracurricular activities can be challenging


Color blindness can affect:

• Opportunities:

Color blindness creates a barrier to entry for a range of occupations (art & design, business, science), and besides those occupations, problems are experienced with colors within many jobs that do not so obviously rely on color.

• Confidence:

Color is a part of our everyday life, and when it comes to making color-related decisions for people with color vision deficiencies, it can be a very frustrating experience that can affect their confidence. Choosing an outfit, cooking a meal, grocery shopping, reading maps and color-related tasks at work - are just a few examples of daily challenges a colorblind person can experience.

Is There A Solution?

There is no cure for color blindness. Tools like colorblind glasses and lenses are popular among people these days, but there are a few complaints:

• The first thing you should know is that colorblind glasses don't work for everyone; some people have mild to strong color deficiency, and colorblind glasses only enhance certain colors making it impossible for many people to see the difference. In addition, peer-reviewed articles have found that these glasses do not work.

• Many people feel more confused wearing colorblind glasses due to the lack of knowledge about colors. They might see the colors differently, but they have no idea what colors they are.

• Last but not least, it's important to understand that people with color vision deficiencies never learned about colors and color matching techniques. Many don’t know how to use colors in everyday life, at work, or for projects, so as a result using colorblind glasses doesn't solve problems related to appearance, confidence, relationships, and other long-term effects.


A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR PARENTS/CHILDREN

The proper role of the parent is to provide encouragement, support, and access to information that enable the child to master key developmental tasks. As a parent it is your job to help your colorblind child develop best strategies to cope with color related situations and tasks.

That’s why at ColorWill we created a guide for parents/children where we give you clear step by step guidance and advice on how to explain color blindness to your child, how to help them learn more about colors, and help you understand how your child sees the world.

If your child is colorblind, you need to learn more about his/her condition. If you don't take action now, in the future your child can face some challenges in communication, career opportunities, and self-confidence.

Looking for all of the information we mentioned in the “List of Essential Things You Need to Know” can be an endless process of searching for the right source and the right information. We understand the frustration that parents feel, the time and effort they put to help their child.

Our step-by-step online training will help you and your child to live a happier life. Join the ColorWill online training as we examine and discuss ways to improve your child's experience of life.

This online course will be divided into three sections:

● What parents need to know?
● Parents Q&A
● Types Of Color Blindness
● Keep Calm and Don't Panic
● Do and don't As A Parent
● See From The Eyes Of A Colorblind Person
● Informative Videos About Light & Colors
● Top Useful Applications For CVD
● 25 Actions To Help Your Child
● 2 Action Steps - Game-training
● How to Share the News with Your Child?
● Additional Information about color blindness

2. Educational materials and videos for children
● Education For Children
● Color Blindness Explained for Children (Animation)
● Video about His/Her Unique Vision?
● Primary & Secondary Colors Musical Videos
● Color Of Things (Musical Video)
● Draw With Me (Musical Animation)

3. Tips for Teachers with Colorblind Students

To enroll today click on this link: ColorWill for Children.
Good Luck