Understanding and
Living With Color Deficiency
Everything You Need to Know about Color Deficiency
A color deficiency is what people usually refer to as color
blindness. It is inaccurate to label an individual as color
blind since overall a person's eyes function properly. The
individual can detect, focus on and process images. Except
for the condition called monochromacy, an affected person
is not blind to color.
The individual with a color defect has problem identifying
hues. Such a problem roots from the specialized cell receptors
in the eyes called cones. Three different cones usually contain
pigments which absorb different amounts of light. Wavelengths
will decide the amount of pigmentation the cones absorb and
the absorption determines how the eye detects and blends the
primary colors of red, green, blue and yellow.
Types of color deficiency
The hereditary forms of color deficiency can be categorized
into 3 categories: monochromacy, dichromacy and anomalous
trichromacy.
Monochromacy means that a person will not be able to see
any hue. It is the truest example of color blindness. An affected
individual visions the world around him in black and white
and shades of gray. This results from an absence or deficiency
in the eye's cone receptor.
A person with dichromacy can differentiate hues so the defect
is not quite as major. Hues which result as the eye's receptors
react to the different wavelengths they continually receive.
There are 3 types of dichromacy and the differences between
each involve the colors that can be detected.
For instance, protonopia and dueteranopia mean that a person
has problem distinguishing red/green/yellow but can see blue
and yellow. The defect referred to as tritanopia is opposite,
which is a condition which blues and yellows cannot be distinguished
however reds and greens can. This latter condition is rarer
and those with tritanopia find it easier to adjust to the
world around them.
Those with anomalous trichromacy can differentiate hues,
and can do this better than those with dichromacy. As a matter
of fact, some individuals are barely realize they have a color
defect. The two categories of trichromacy include protanomaly
and deuteranomaly.
The only type of color defect that is not hereditary is tritanomaly.
Most of the people who are affected by a color defect are
affected from the moment they are born. Early detection is
important so that accommodations can be made to ensure that
impacts to a child's learning and development, in particular
his perception of color, are limited. Adults with color defects
find that some career paths are unachievable.
A color defect cannot be 'cured' therefore lifestyle modifications
are needed. Individuals need to learn to cope in a color-coded
world by learning which colors belong where. A color deficiency
will not prevent a person from operating a motor vehicle,
however, an affected individual needs to learn and recognize
roadways signs and their respective meanings. For example,
he must memorize that the light at the top of traffic signal
is always red, that green is on bottom and yellow is in the
middle.
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