5 Dead-Wrong Beliefs About Color Blindness

There are a few wrong beliefs about color blindness, that can negatively affect colorblind people's life. Most of these have been repeated so often that everyone just assumes they are facts. But they’d be wrong.

This post delves into some of the worst beliefs about color blindness.

1. Colorblind Drivers Have Difficulties Recognizing Traffic Lights

There is a widespread assumption that colorblind drivers can't drive as safely as drivers with normal vision, because they must have difficulties recognizing the colors of the traffic lights.

People who are colorblind see normally in other ways and can do normal things, such as drive. They just learn to respond to the way traffic signals light up, knowing that the red light is generally on top and green is on the bottom.

New Japanese Traffic Light Design Could Revamp the Road for Colorblind Drivers

Taro Ochiai, professor at Kyushu Sangyo University, is yet another individual harnessing his expertise to improve the current traffic light. However, he goes beyond the contemporary discussion of changing traffic light colors, shapes, and overall visuals. His new traffic light design targets colorblind drivers.

2. It's Not a Big Deal

Color deficiency can affect a person’s life well beyond simply being unable to see specific colors. Color is a powerful form of communication and plays a vital role in your daily life.

Many colorblind people avoid mentioning their condition, fearing they might be judged or miss out on opportunities. Color blindness can affect:

RELATIONSHIP Color plays a big part in our everyday functioning, starting from early childhood. That itself can affect a child’s behavioral issues like the feeling of embarrassment and social withdrawal. Such issues continue to adulthood, where color blindness can strongly affect relationships with others.

OPPORTUNITIES Color blindness creates a barrier to entry to a range of occupations (art & design, business, science), and besides those occupations, problems are experienced with colors within many jobs that do not so obviously rely on color.

CONFIDENCE Confidence means different things to each person. Color Blindness - the strange question of 'what color it is from friends/family and others, the secret from classmates /colleagues & boss, the wonder what will the world look like, any color-related conversation, the frustration of an unachieved career.

3. Color Blindness Didn't Affect My Life

Some colorblind people believed that "Color blindness never affects their life, or their ability to do their job". They believe that color isn't that important in their everyday life.

This is absolutely wrong and it seems these people are not fully aware of the impact of color blindness. As we mentioned above colorblindness can affect relationships with others, career restriction, and confidence. Color blindness is a particular problem when people are matching their clothes, playing sports, reading maps, cooking, and even playing computer games. Whenever anything involves color, colorblind people take a step back and let other people get on with it.

The reality is that colorblind people need to understand that if their condition leads to paying less attention to colors or in some cases completely ignoring them, it's still very important for people with normal vision and it affects their lives. it can sway thinking, change actions, and cause reactions.

4. Colorblind Children Will Adapt

Most people with color blindness learn to adapt and live with the condition. Since colorblind children are often not supported in the classroom, from an early age and before they even begin to learn to read and write most feel inadequate, some lose confidence and struggle to cope, some are put off school and some become unwilling to learn and can develop into disruptive pupils. 1

Children with color vision deficiency can only rely on the support of their parents to learn colors, Here you can download a step-by-step guide for parents to help you

Give a Colorblind Child the Best Start in Life

Download Your FREE Guide "7 Quick Tips For Parents"

5. There Is No Way to Help Colorblind People

Since there's no cure for color blindness and it does not physically hurt the person, those without color deficiency do not realize the patient is being forced to adapt to a world in which he or she cannot properly perceive a significant portion. By educating people both with and without color deficiency about the effects of cone pigment problems, the gap between both perceptions can be significantly lessened.

Tools like colorblind glasses are popular among people these days, but it doesn’t work for everyone.

Example: One of the ‘daily’ struggles that people with color deficiency experience is - shopping & matching their outfits. The only way that a colorblind person can solve this problem is by using tools like mobile applications and knowledge about colors. With these two things combined, people with a color deficiency can learn more about color combinations; to know which color goes well with which color, is something that they never had a chance to learn.

Are there currently any treatments for color-blindness?

There are no preventative treatments as it's genetic. However colored filters, spectacles, and contact lenses have been introduced that can alter someone's color perception. They might allow the wearer to see a few more colors or colors nearer to how a person with normal color vision would see them, but it doesn't really solve the issue. Color blindness affects so many aspects of our life. You can learn some tips & tricks at this online training course designed for colorblind people.