Can you see the colors?
January 27, 2010 • Anne Bannister, Online Editor
Filed under Random
Color Deficiency, found in 8 percent of males, is an inherited trait resulting from missing components in nerves.
“It’s kind of cool because you are unique,” junior Brian Street, who is color deficient, said. “But it’s not cool at the same time because it’s a disadvantage.
A person who is color deficient has trouble matching colors. For example, if you have several shades of blue, they might all appear as the same shade.
“It can get really difficult sometimes when the tents are close together,” Senior Jay Wickham said. “Cuz that’s when I can’t really tell anything apart.”
“They are able to mix two and not three colors at a time,” Optometrist Dr. Michael Hattan said.
Everyone has three different color receptors, or cones, in their eyes. A color deficient person only uses two of these cones.
“My greens and yellows all look the same for the most part and then I have problems with some shades of blues,” Street said.
Wickham said he has trouble with blue and purple, some tents of red and green and some yellow-oranges.
“It is kind of nice being color blind in a way, because some people will give you sympathy,” Wickham said. “In a way it sucks because sometimes you can’t tell what color you are wearing. It takes me forever to pick out some shirts or even hoodies.”
Aside from matching clothing, color deficiency doesn’t tend to be an issue.
“It’s just a problem if I want to be in the air force or something,” Street said.
Other occupations, such as an operator of transportation or law enforcement may also require normal color vision.
Hattan said there are currently no methods to correct color deficiency. Certain lenses can be worn that allow a person to match a wider range of colors, but they do not solve the problem.
Street said he inherited the trait from his grandfather. Wickham is the only one in his family.
Almost all cases of color deficiency are inherited, the majority of which are the red-green type.
“Acquired, or non-inherited, color deficiency can result from certain conditions or medications.” Hattan said. “This tends to be a blue-yellow type.”
“I don’t tell people [I’m color blind] unless I have to, because if I tell them, it gets really old hearing people ask me. ‘What color is this?? Or this?? Or this??,’.”
Loading ...
