How to Tell if a Child is Colour Blind

There are many things to worry about when you have a child, but there’s something that not many parents consider—whether their child is colour blind. A child born with colour deficiencies often won’t know that there’s anything wrong because they’ve never experienced anything different. It’s important to know signs of a colour deficiency and have your child tested if you suspect something wrong.

Colour Blind vs. Colour Deficient

Many people simply refer to the inability to see certain colours as being colour blind; however, only a very small percentage of people actually can’t see any colours.Instead, most people have a form of colour deficiency:Deuteranomaly – Reduced sensitivity to green light.Protanomaly – Reduced sensitivity to red lightTritanomaly – Reduced sensitivity to blue light

Most babies can’t see any colours until they are about four months old—that’s when the cones at the back of the eye start functioning. It can take a few more years to even be able to test for colour blindness or colour deficiency because children need to be able to properly identify colours and numbers.

When a child is between two and four, there are certain signs you should keep an eye out for including:

• problem identifying red or green crayons, markers or pencils.
• vision or headache complaints when looking at something red on a green background (or green on a red background).
• a heightened sense of smell or heightened ability to see at night.

If you suspect a colour deficiency in your child, it’s best to make an appointment with an optometrist. They’ll run a series of tests to determine if there is a problem and what type of deficiency they have. Some optometrists will include a colour blindness test as part of a regular eye examination but some will only test if you mention your concerns.