Welcome to MacGill School Nurse Supplies!

Blog

The 3 Types of Color Vision Deficiencies

A color vision deficiency, commonly referred to as color blindness, is when someone has difficulty seeing either red, green, or blue (or a combination of those colors). A misperception is that someone who is color blind can’t see any colors, but this type of deficiency is actually very rare.

Color vision deficiencies can greatly impact a child’s learning abilities, especially when there are color components of lessons and tests. That’s why it’s important to have students tested as early as possible.

Children between the ages of 3 and 5 should be tested for color vision deficiencies during their routine vision screenings. It is also recommended that a color perception test be administered to students as early as possible with many states recommending testing in first or second grade (or if a student is new to the district).

According to the National Institute of Health, the three main types of color vision deficiencies are:

  1. Red-green color vision defects are the most common form of color vision deficiency. Affected individuals have trouble distinguishing between some shades of red, yellow, and green.
  2. Blue-yellow color vision defects are rarer and cause problems with differentiating shades of blue and green and cause difficulty distinguishing dark blue from black.
  3. Blue cone monochromacy is a less common and more severe form of color vision deficiency that causes very poor visual acuity (sharpness of vision) and severely reduced color vision.

 

MacGill offers a variety of color vison tests to assist in your color vision deficiency screening. Click here to shop and please contact us if you have any questions. We’re happy to help!

Post your comment

MacGill