Sep 2, 2008 7:37 am US/Eastern
Health: Color-Blindness
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
Tyler Grothe seems like a normal two year old. But his mother worries about his vision. Being colorblind runs in her family.
"His hobbies are watching Mickey Mouse on TV, singing, reading books," said Jackie Grothe, his mother.
About eight percent of boys are color blind, for girls it's one percent. Those affected can't see certain colors, like red or green, but it's often not detected quickly, which can cause problems at school.
"The teacher might think the child doesn't understand something. They think they can't draw with a pencil or they can't recognize the object they're looking at," said Dr. Gregg Lueder, a Pediatric Ophthalmologist.
But you don't have to wait until grade school to find out if there's an issue.
There's a quick and simple way to check.
"The color test has some figure embedded in a background of color," said Dr. Lueder.
Older children are shown a test that has numbers, but now, even preschooler who don't know their numbers yet can be evaluated.
"They can either trace the number with their finger and then we know they see it, or we can use shapes like a triangle, a circle, something that a younger child would recognize," said Dr. Lueder.
If they can't distinguish the number or shape from the background, odds are they are color blind. A parent can do the initial paper test, but an eye doctor should confirm the results. There is no cure for being color blind. In most cases, it's genetic.
"There are a few rare things that can cause color vision difficulties but those are rare, we do an exam make sure the child doesn't have that," said Dr. Lueder.
Color Blind Screening & Information- http://www.colorvisiontesting.com/
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