Color blindness

[Alyantavid]

First, this is not something I'm hugely concerned about at this point. Just something that ocurred to me and I'm curious.

My 3 year old son knows most of his colors. He always calls green red. But he knows red when he sees it and identifies it correctly. But green is always called red. Dark colors; black, dark blue, dark purple, etc, when asked what color it is, he always says "nothing" Lighter shades of the same colors he knows.

Is it possible he has some stage of color blindness? Or is it just a 3 year old not completely knowing his colors? The red/green thing is what made me think of it.

[onyxravnos]

it's possible it's color blindness but if it doesn't run in your (or DH's) family and there haven't been any huge head trauma it is prob just not really 'getting' the color thing yet.

Just keep pointing out the RED fire truck the GREEN house, the BROWN dog etc. he'll get there.

[JamieCatheryn]

Try this, show one of these colorblindness tests to him and ask him to show you the shapes: http://www.1800myeyedoc.com/nss-fold...ind%20test.gif

[Bug-a-Boo's Mama]

I think at this age while they may know their colors, they can be easily confused or forget. DS's favorite color is red. If we are at a red light he will say that is my favorite color and green is yours. But I cannot tell you how many times he will bring me something green and say it's red, occasionally with blue also. I did consider color-blindness, but I don't even know if there is a way to tell at this age or not. I really just think it is forgetting or confusion. Same way DS will ask me what something is when we all know he knows what it is. Chicken. Yep, still chicken. One more time. Chicken. Maybe they want to be reassured?

[MamaJenese]

Is your Dad color blind?. Basically (very basically) color blind Dads pass the carrier gene to thier daighters who then have color blind sons (about a 50 50 chance).

[eepster]

DS is 3 yo too. I just took him for his first eye exam today, and it included a color test. He didn't have to ID the colors, just find shapes. She asked if DS knew his shapes before starting, so I think they also had picture ones.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by MamaJenese

Is your Dad color blind?. Basically (very basically) color blind Dads pass the carrier gene to thier daighters who then have color blind sons (about a 50 50 chance).

My dad is colorblind, partially I guess. He can't tell some colors apart, but others he can.

I'll try that test on him and see. Thanks for the responses!

[Poddi]

Did you find out? Just curious. I have a color blind son and did quite a bit of research a couple years ago. His came as a real shock as there's absolutely nobody else in the family with that condition. Apparently it's possible to carry the hidden gene down the line from mother to daughter (all as carriers) to granddaughter...etc. without showing up on any of their sons (if they're the lucky 50%).

If you want to know more color tests and information I can send you some links.

[alexsam]

My son is colorblind but could identify all colors- just sees the differently. It took an optometrist who specializes in children to see it (we were going for other reasons).

Have them include it in their next professional eye exam. It can be kinda tricky with the developmental expectations as well as the fact that colorblindness is not always straight forward.

[Alyantavid]

Originally Posted by Poddi

Did you find out? Just curious. I have a color blind son and did quite a bit of research a couple years ago. His came as a real shock as there's absolutely nobody else in the family with that condition. Apparently it's possible to carry the hidden gene down the line from mother to daughter (all as carriers) to granddaughter...etc. without showing up on any of their sons (if they're the lucky 50%).

If you want to know more color tests and information I can send you some links.

I didn't dig any deeper. It's hard for me to know at this age for sure and since he hasn't been to an eye doc, I guess I'll wait and speak with them. I guess if I do have this gene, the 50% works out about right, my other son is definitely not color blind.

I'd love any other links.

[sagewinna]

My husband has green and blue color blindness. They both look black to him. When he was in kindergarten they figured it out when he kept using the black crayon for grass and the sky when he colored, all three looked alike to him. It doesn't affect him much, he is a web developer/designer, but sometimes he needs help when he mis-matches clothing.

[Poddi]

Here's a very easy test for kids. If they know their shapes they can do this one. http://colorvisiontesting.com/online%20test.htm Hope that helps.