Characteristic

Just like adults, babies and children who are still at this age are also at risk of experiencing eye disorders. Of the several types of eye problems, one of which can occur in babies and children is color blindness. As parents, it's good to recognize as early as possible the characteristics of color blindness in children.

What are the signs when your little one is color blind? Let's look at a more complete explanation.

What are the characteristics when a child is color blind?

As the name implies, color blindness is the inability of a person to see and distinguish between the colors the eye perceives normally.

Before detecting the characteristics of color blindness in children, you should first understand the process by which the eyes perceive light and color.

The process until the eye finally manages to see a variety of different colors from the environment is fairly complex, including in infants and children.

Starting from the entry of light into the eye through the cornea, to moving through the lens and transparent tissue in the eye.

The light is about to go to the cone cells located in the retina, or precisely at the back of the eyeball.

These cones are very sensitive to the wavelengths of light that are blue, green, and red. Furthermore, the chemicals present in the cone cells will trigger a reaction and send information to the brain via the optic nerve.

If the eyes of babies and children are normal, of course, the difference in color that is caught by the eye can be seen clearly.

Conversely, if it turns out that the cone cells are deficient in one or more chemicals, babies and children will have difficulty distinguishing colors, thus showing symptoms of color blindness.

Color blindness itself is divided into several types. First, red-green color blindness, which is the most common.

The characteristics of babies and children who experience red-green color blindness can be seen when they have difficulty distinguishing between brown, red, green, and orange vegetables and fruits.

While the second is blue-yellow color blindness. This type of color blindness is less common, but babies and children with this condition are usually seen when it is difficult to distinguish between blue and yellow.

Both types of color blindness are known as partial color blindness. It is different again for total color blindness, which is only able to see the world in gray, black, and white.

The characteristics of color blindness in infants and children

Infants and children who are color blind usually have the main symptom of difficulty distinguishing between red, green, brown and orange objects.

Another characteristic that is exhibited by infants and children with color blindness is that they assume that two colors are the same. In fact, the two colors are actually different for babies and children with normal eyes.

In addition, your baby can also have difficulty separating or grouping objects based on the same color.

Symptoms of color blindness usually begin to appear when the child is four years old. However, there are also children who experience signs of color blindness during preschool and school.

Symptoms of color blindness in children become more visible when they are doing various activities to train their fine motor skills.

This can be seen when children learn to group objects, color pictures, copy colored writing, and other activities related to color.

The following are the characteristics that can be seen when a child is color blind:

Not able to distinguish certain colors, for example red-green or blue-yellow.
Not able to distinguish colors with similar nuances.
Often have problems doing activities related to color.
Experiencing sensitivity to light.

The characteristics of color blindness in infants and other children

Not only that, according to Mott Children's Hospital, babies and children who experience color blindness can also show characteristics of being able to see many colors.

So, babies and children with color blindness do not know that the colors they see are different from what other people see.

In fact, babies and children may see only a few colors, whereas people with normal eyes can see a variety of colors.

Meanwhile, in rare cases, the colors that can be captured by babies and children can range from black, white, and gray.

However, even though color blindness makes it difficult for some babies and children to distinguish certain colors, they can still see clearly.

In other words, the characteristics of color blindness experienced by some infants and children only affect the eye's inability to perceive color differences properly.

However, there are no problems with the vision conditions of infants and children who are color blind. The severity of color blindness experienced by infants and children can be classified as mild, moderate to severe.

It's just that, the severity will continue to be the same or not change for the worse or for the better.

The likelihood of color blindness runs in families

Color blindness does not come suddenly, but can be caused by various things. According to the Mayo Clinic, congenital birth defects in the form of color blindness in babies and children can be genetically inherited.

Color blindness that is inherited in this family can affect one or both eyes. Cases of color blindness that run in the family are usually more likely to be passed on to boys if there is a member of the mother's family who experiences it.

It means this, if you are a mother with a family member who is color blind, your son has a greater chance of contracting this condition.

The chance of color blindness is even greater when your father, aka the grandfather of your child, is also color blind.

Meanwhile, if you only have girls, the chances of reducing color blindness are usually not as great as for boys.

A girl's chances of experiencing color blindness are usually quite high when her biological father has this eye disorder first.

In addition, the cause of color blindness in infants and children can also be due to disease. Take for example sickle cell anemia, diabetes, macular degeneration, and glaucoma that can affect one or both eyes of babies and children.

However, when the disease is treated and your little one's condition gets better, the characteristics of color blindness in children will also recover.

When to take your child to the doctor?

Most parents generally do not realize that their babies and children are color blind. So, pay attention when your little one seems to have difficulty distinguishing colors.

Immediately check their health condition to the doctor when you suspect a baby or child shows signs of color blindness while doing any activity.

The doctor will later perform an examination to confirm the symptoms that your baby is experiencing. Although there is no cure for color blindness or measures to prevent this birth defect, at least treatment can help improve your little one's vision.