"He was colorblind but saw the world in a different spectrum of light" - @josejirafa
I'm quite sure most of you have already heard of colorblindness. Am I right? If you haven't, think of the first thing that pops into your head. (Go on, don't be shy. Try and see how that would look like. How do you think it feels?)
You are probably thinking, "What a terrible illness to only see the world in black and white!"
As a colorblind, that statement is enough tobring myself into laughter. (I'm really laughing right now from the thought. LOL just kidding. But seriously). It is actually more complicated than that. But that's okay. It simply means you are logical. The name implies blindness [noun]: the state of being unable to see. It's just fair to believe that colorblind people are unable to see the different spectrum of visible light. (They should definitely change the name)
Allow me to shed some "color" into the subject (see what I did there? LOL). Today, I am going to talk about COLORBLINDESS. Hooray!
Why is this important?
Well Knowledge is Power, it wouldn't hurt to gain a deeper understanding of world. At the back of my mind, I feel the need to express myself and to be understood by the world. And Steemit is the perfect platform to express it. A significant number of people in the world are colorblind, and not even most of them are aware that they are. Approximately 1 in 12 men (Colorblind Awareness Organization, 2017) suffer from colorblindness.
So among Jesus' 12 disciples, one of them must have been a colorblind. Hmm? I personally think it is Doubting Thomas. He was always the "To 'see' is to believe" type of guy. Get it? (I am so funny sometimes. Okay moving on)
Why do people have colorblindness?
In medical jargon, it is defined as a genetic X-Linked Disease. We won't go over that too much. Let me break it down for you. From the word genetic, it is particularly related to the chromosomal makeup of the person and these are inherited from our parents. Our eyes have special cells called cones which make it possible for color perception. A fault is made in a particular gene for the coding of cones cells and these mutations are passed on from generation to generation.
Males are primarily inflicted with the disease because of the way our sex chromosomes are. Males (XY) only have one X chromosomes while women (XX) have two. Since the disease is X-linked (meaning the mutation is attached to the X chromosome), and males only have one X chromosome, they are more susceptible to this illness.
Females can also have colorblindness. This is only likely to happen if the Father is colorblind while the mother is either a carrier or a colorblind as well. In addition, sons of a father with colorblindness are not likely to inherit the gene but the daughters will likely be carriers of the gene.
GENETICS 101: As for my case, since my father and mother are not known to be colorblind, it is highly likely that my mother is simple a carrier of the gene for colorblindness
_________.
How to detect colorblindness
In the medical field, the only possible way to detect colorblindness used the Ishihara Test. However, new websites are now capable of diagnosing the types of colorblindness. This may be one of the reasons why some colorblind people are not aware of their illness because it is not readily available and not easily detected unless you have a more severe type. For me, I was diagnosed with colorblindness when I was already in High School. Let's have a drill shall we? Take a look at the plate below.
If you happen to have difficulty seeing a number on this plate, you may want to consider having a colorblindness test. These are the best websites to detect colorblindness (you can simply click on the link):
- Colblindor Color Arrangement Test: This site lets you arrange the hues of colors according to the spectrum of light, from violet to red. After the test, it is going to tell you what type of colorblindness you have. Pretty neat, right?
- Colblindor Farnsworth-Munsell 100 HueColor Vision Test: This is another hue discrimination arrangement test which is more complicated but gives out results just as accurately.
- Enchroma Ishihara Test: This uses the plates as you have seen above. It is a general diagnostic tool for colorblindness which must be taken first. It was named after its designer, Dr. Shinobu Ishihara, a professor at the University of Tokyo, who first published his tests in 1917
Seeing in the eyes of a colorblind
If you are inflicted with the illness, it is very much common for people to spend at most 5-10 minutes pointing at random objects and yelling out, "What color is this? How about this? This one, what do you see?" until you finally get a color wrong. Somehow, I have grown to be accustomed to it when I happen to include colorblindness as one of my eye defects in medical forms. I joined a forum of colorblind once and we had the same sentiments haha.
It is important to note that colorblindness does not mean seeing the world in black and white (except for Achromatopsia which is usually the result of damage to the cerebral cortex and not inheritance). Different types of colorblindness see different hues. We typically have difficulty in distinguishing between hues. For example, blue can sometimes appear violet especially if the color is unsaturated. Colorblind also have difficulty naming colors, "Is it Brown, Maroon or Red?" because sometimes these colors kinda look the same. I know, it's weird right? haha
If you're still unable to comprehend how that would look like, there are now a lot of websites which allows you to simulate how different types of blindness see.
- ColorVisionTesting.com: You can see here photo comparisons of different types of colorblindness
- WebExhibits.org: This website particularly discusses the concept of light, appreciation of art and includes how people with the illness perceive the world. It's a really great site and lets you appreciate the world and how much of it is perceived by our very eyes.
3.Vischeck.com: This one allows you to simulate what a specific type looks like in your own screen.
4.Etre.com: This site is very interactive as it lets you upload an image from your desktop. It then projects how a person with the type perceives the photo. This one I would definitely use for my friends who don't understand that blue and violet sometimes looks the same.
Different Types of Colorblindness
Red-Green Color Blindness
Red cone (known as protan) or green cone (deutran) photopigment blindness is the most common types of hereditary color blindness.
- Protanomaly: The red cone photopigment is abnormal. Red, orange, and yellow appear greener and colors are not as bright. This affects 1 percent of males and is the mildest form.
- Protanopia: There are no working red cone cells. Red appears as black. Certain shades of orange, yellow, and green all appear as yellow.
- Deuteranomaly: The green cone photopigment is abnormal. Yellow and green appear redder and it is difficult to tell violet from blue. This condition affects 5 percent of males and is the most common type of colorblindness. This is only mild and usually does not affect daily living
- Deuteranopia: There are no working green cone cells. They tend to see reds as brownish-yellow and greens as beige. This affects 1 percent of males.
Blue-Yellow Color Blindness
Blue-cone (tritan) photopigments blindness is a rarer condition.
- Tritanomaly: Limited number of blue cone cells. Blue appears greener and it can be difficult to tell yellow and red from pink. Tritanomaly is extremely rare. It is an autosomal dominant disorder affecting males and females equally.
- Tritanopia: Also termed as blue-yellow color blindness, these lack blue cone cells. Blue appears green and yellow appears violet or light grey. This is an extremely rare disorder.
Complete color blindness
These are extremely rare conditions which may also affect visual acuity.
- Cone monochromacy: This is the result of failure of two or three of the cone photopigments. Nearsightedness, poor visual acuity, and uncontrollable shaking of eyes may also be associated if blue monochromacy is present.
- Rod monochromacy or achromatopsia: This type of monochromacy is the rares and most severe. It is distinguished from the others as this condition is present at birth. All cone cells are not functional resulting to black and white perception. These people also have extreme sensitivity to light (photophobia).
source/image source
I'd like to think of people who have colorblindness as Mutants from the X-Men, or maybe different factions from the Divergent. These are simply branches of the same tree. Despite these differences people with Protanopia, Deuteranopia, Tritanopia, Protanomaly, Deuteranomaly, Tritanomaly, and Monochromacy are still people capable of living normal lives amongst others. What a tongue twister! #mutants #xmen #divergence
Implications of colorblindness
Illnesses often have significant implications in their lifestyle, career and education. Here are some of the identified implications which I personally experienced:
- Career: Some career options require you to have proficient vision not only visual acuity but also in color perception. These professions include Electrical engineering, Seafaring and Aircraft Navigation. All of these professions I have personally considered. Obviously I did not make it through because of my deficiency or was advised to pursue another career option.. I personally think that this is an issue. It is just simply discriminatory and a perpetuation of inequality. I do believe that this is changing though. I have heard of minor changes in the system with professions slowly integrating colorblind assistance in the color coding of several operations at work. This website features the limitations of work that colorblindness can and actions that are being done to correct this.
Parenting/Childrearing: Some people may not want to pass on their genes to with the fear of cultivating a gene pool of colorblind people. I am aware that this is a personal issue because genetic counselling allows people with a genetic disorders to confront their personal insecurities. This illness does not directly cause morbidity which should not be problem if under the right management and social support.
Personal Life: There are minor difficulties which a person with the illness can have difficulty with. For example, I was not fond of the game Zuma because I would find it difficult to distinguish the colors LOL haha. It was only until Zuma's Revenge and Zuma Blitz where they added a colorblind assist mode that I was able to enjoy the game at its core.
This screenshot of PopCap's Zuma's Revenge with colorblind assist accounts the developers commitment to equal opportunity for people with the illness
These are a few of difficulties I encounter as a colorblind: matching clothes, reading color coded signals, distinguishing if meat has been cooked or not, losing at games requiring color proficiency, and low self-esteem.
My Deuteranopic Experience | A Personal Recollection of My Deficiency
Nursery class
When I was around 3 years old, the entrance examination to one school here in the Philippines requires a toddler to pair two colors of toy eggs together. I couldn't remember anymore but I was informed that I was almost unable to make it into preschool having had the difficulty of pairing the toy eggs together.
Kindergarten
We were coloring different fruits in a piece of paper. There was an apple, an orange, and grapes. I colored the apple and the orange right but used blue crayons for the grapes. The paper was returned to me with a big red X mark at margins. I was shocked. So was my mother. My teacher supposed I was just being careless.
Elementary
I could still recall all of my crayons arranged in a plastic box with pointed ends facing the same way. I was very protective of them. My classmates were sure to be greeted with a grimace every time they touch my crayons. There was this instance where I was encouraged to share my crayons as I had the complete set. I had no choice, didn't want to look selfish in front of everybody. When everyone was done with the activity, my crayons have been split into halves, the paper labels shredded and others misplaced. It was virtually impossible for me to distinguish the colors without the labels on them. I asked my mother to buy me new set of crayons. Of course, she resisted.
Junior High School
My classmates and I were scrolling through random IQ tests in the internet. Luckily, we came across the Ishihara test. They were yelling out numbers plate by plate. I was not sure how to feel. Why am I the only one in the group who seems to be perplexed by the idea? I told my classmates that to what extent I am able to perceive colors. They did not believe me. I was a laughing stock for quite some time. After a year, we had Biology Class. I owe it all to genetics. Our teacher discussed about patterns of inheritance, including colorblindness. She asked if anyone in the room had it. I was recognized to be the only one in the class with the condition. And right there and then, I was branded as the guy who is colorblind.
Senior High School
By and by, my classmates grew familiar with my condition. I was an inside joke for sometime but now I have accepted it. Every now and then they are reminded of my condition when I have difficulty with situtations. "Would you please hand me the red cup", and I would give them a green one. They would point at random objects within their reach and ask me what color I saw until I would finally get it wrong. They would burst into laughter. I would laugh with them :)
College
Nursing School . I would be exposed to different situations. What could possibly be the difference with pale, ashen, pink, jaundices, cyanotic and ruddy? How would I know if sputum was blood-tinged, frothy pink or clear? People knew my condition. I knew myself jus as well. It's times like these that you really need people to depend on. They would tell me that my patient looked pale and I would have a better understanding of my client. My nursing interventions were not disrupted. I was just as capable of taking care of people as anyone else
How you can you help
Help me break the stigma. People who are different, having difficulties, should never be given lesser respect. As of the time being, a lot of professions are shifting to accept colorblind people. Their facilities are moving to install colorblind assist features in equipment. In March 2012, Dr Arthur Pope incorporated the Colour Vision Defective Pilots Association. This association aims to tackle the issue of a discrimination when it comes to the regulations concerning color vision, to make amends in worldwide standards and to give support to those who feel unfairly treated as colorblind pilot candidates.
Spread the word. Tell your friends how it feels like. Tel your friend's friends. Educate people. It's amazing how education can create positive change. Understanding others is key to understand yourself as well. How we see people are just reflections of who we are.
If you know anyone who is colorblind or is likely to be colorblind, please consider tagging him/her in the comments below or sharing my post. I would love to be acquainted with fellow Steemians who share my condition. Support system is a must!
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