Can Toddlers Be Color Blind?

OK, there are a few types of color blind, most of them are hereditary. So if no one in either family is colorblind it's a lot less likely.

More importantly, what he's doing is 100% NORMAL for a 3-year-old. The names of colors are actually quite arbitrary ("red" has nothing to do with the appearance of the color except what we've assigned to it) and harder for kids to remember than some other concepts. I've worked with preschoolers and taught kindergarten for several years, and I've seen a lot of kids who are still working on getting all the color names right. So it sounds like he's just fine.

(The most common colorblindness is red-green, which tends to usually affect boys. If you are concerned, give him a pile of blocks with about 3 or 4 colors, including red and green, and have him help you sort them by color, without naming the color. If he hasn't sorted before, you'll have to help him get the concept, but then you can see if he regularly mixes up red and green items or if he can differentiate between them.)

Yes, my son is color blind and it is inherited through the mother's line. My father is colorblind as well. If my son has daughters, they will be the carriers and could pass it on to their sons. It is most common in boys and very rare in girls.

We suspected he was colorblind at an early age but did not confirm it until he was in 1st grade. My son learned to read at an early age and started to read the labels on the crayons. This made it hard to confirm for a while. There are tests. I would suggest you wait until he is in kindergarten before you truly test him.

The reason I say wait, is because in certain lights colors seem to change to a colorblind person. Somedays my son can tell what colors are what but then other days they get mixed up. It all depends on the lighting. Don't get me wrong, he is colorblind and lights are not the cause, but it does make things a little more complex.

With all this said, my son is now 15 and a freshman in High School. All is good. He has no problem in school. He just tells his teachers at the beginning of the year and they understand.

It has not effected his learning as he is an honor student.

It does give him an excuse to talk to girls though. He can always ask them what color is this and they usually tell him? Conversations start from there. LOL!

Good Luck and do not press him on his colors just yet.

The most common form of color blindness is red-green blindness. It is hereditary and more common in boys than in girls. If he is color blind, he likely has been since birth... it is estimated that between 5 and 10 percent males are color blind.
I wold hold off on pressing him on colors and ask his doctor to give him a test.
Good luck.

My son was diagnosed with colorblindness in Pre-K. The (very observant) teachers noticed he was reading the color names on the crayon labels and after a little further asking questions, testing it became clear that he WAS reading the color names, not just the "R" for red, etc because it was clear that he was reading the B's (blue, black, brown, etc.). Then at their yearly vision screening--sure enough--they caught it. I followed up with a pediatric opth. & he confirmed it.
He has the red/green version.
He's now in 2nd grade and it really hasn't been a problem. I usually (or he does!) let his teachers know at the beginning of the year and they allow for it. O. thing you might now realize that MIGHT be affected is certain colors of type on certain colors of background--it can look like a solid color to them!

*ETA* usually its not the primary or "full strength colors" that are confused--it's shades of them. My son can pick out GREEN (like Kelly green) it's like olives, teals, etc. that trip him up.

Color blindness is more common in boys. My husband is color blind. He actually had a scholarship to the Air Force Academy but when they found out he was color blind and couldnt be a pilot HE made the decision to go in a different direction. He is EXTREMELY color blind. He has learned to recognize some colors. It really isn't a big deal unless you need to learn wiring in an airplane, lol.

It would be helpful for you to know for sure. It can cloud a teacher's judgement if you plan to put him in public or private school. The two pillow test could be anything...from not seeing the same color or just forgetting what you just said if distracted....

Eight percent of men and 1/2 percent of women are color blind....

M.

I would try holding up a red item and a green item and ask if they are different colors or the same? Color blindness is genetic so you are born with it so yes of course he can be color blind. It wouldn't be the end of the world and it would be great to know now so you can help him ..

Yes, and as Julia N. pointed out, there are different types and degrees of colorblindness. My grandfather and all of his brothers are/were colorblind, as is my brother. And they are all a little different. A suggestion, though: try holding the objects apart from each other, and then asking what color. Colorblindness can be made more pronounced by proximity (my grandfather had a very hard time with patterns, for example).

And it is inherited, typically through the maternal line. (Although in rare cases, it's possible to pass from paternal lines.) The gene is passed on the x chromosome, but usually activated by the y (so it's rare, though possible, for a female to be colorblind). So, a woman gets the gene from her dad, and though her brothers won't be colorblind (remember, it travels on the x, and they got a y), her sons will (she passed on an x, they got the y from their dad). Her sons will pass the gene to their daughters (on the x), and they will pass it to their sons, and so on. So, my brother's son is not colorblind, but his daughters sons will be. Which is a long way of explaining, that if your dad isn't colorblind, it is possible, but very unlikely that your son is.

I suppose it's possible that he's colorblind. But if it makes you feel any better, I thought about that possibility with our son too. He did the same things you mentioned. I remember looking it up online. I know that most sites said that you can't really tell until a child is entering school because learning colors is a new skill for a toddler or preschooler. I think that red and green are often hard to see...but my memory may be off, so double check that info. When I asked my pedi about it, he said it was possible but difficult to diagnose. He also mentioned that he gets asked that frequently, it's a common question. So we stopped worrying about it. A few weeks later my husband started playing "what color is this?" with m&ms. If my son got it right, he got the candy, if not, my hubby got it. I didn't like this game, and told the hubby as much, but I have to admit it did motivate my son. He learned those colors pretty quickly after that.

Give him time. He may have some color blindness, it is something a child is born with, but it is too early to really tell. My son is 7, and we now know for sure he is, and as is true with most color blind people, he just has trouble with certain colors. If he is, there is nothing to be done about it and it will in no way effect his quality of life. Is your husband colorblind? Your father? Colorblindness is hereditary and mostly occurs in males. Full color blindness is very rare (sees only grays). Here is a little more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness.

I too always suspected it in my son, my hubby is and so is my father, so I expected it really, but it has not effected his ability to learn in any way. Maybe do not push the colors too hard for now, and let time tell you the rest.

Yes, you are born color blind. Unless there is some trauma - but it's rare/

I thought my nephew was color blind until he was 4. He just never wanted to talk about colors. But he's not. His vision is fine. I think three is a little soon to judge - but your Dr. will give you all the answers! Good luck.

Color blindness comes from the child's maternal grandfather. So, if your dad is color blind, then there is a chance.

My grandson had this at the age of three and we really thought he was color blind. It took a year and a half and whether the cones in his eyes became stronger or he just had a bigger mental picture. He could tell all the colors apart and name them.

I thought my oldest daughter was color blind at that age too! I even asked the dr about it cause no matter how much we practiced she just didn't get it. Her sister was learning her colors and she's a year younger. But then I noticed that she'd sort everything by color.... when we'd play with blocks she'd put all of each color together and she did the same thing with the letters on the fridge. Anything that had different colors she'd sort! So... I knew then that she wasn't color blind but it just took her a while to memorize what all the colors were called. (shes not autistic either which I know sorting things is a sign of)

Yes, of course. Most often, if a person is color blind, he is colorblind whatever the age. There are different types of color blindness and so some can see shades of some colors but not others.

One of my children got a bizarre condition - an acquired color-vision defect called dyschromatopsia - in just one eye, and just a shade of green so colors look a bit different to her out of each eye. (No trauma - they think it was a reaction to a medication). But with the genetic forms of color-vision defects, it is from birth.

But your child may be fine, and just needs more time to know his colors.

One of my daughter's preschool teachers raised this concern with us, and I worried. Then I Googled. There is a simple test designed to test young children's ability to see color.

Here are a couple of websites: http://colorvisiontesting.com/color5.htm
http://www.colblindor.com/2007/10/07/5-online-color-blind...

I think I paid less than $100 for the home test (online tests are less reliable) and it took about 5 mins to figure out that my daughter was NOT color blind, just young. I then donated the test to the preschool so that they didn't cause this worry in other parents...

I definitely wouldn't worry about it! It's really not a big deal if he is color blind. A couple years ago we noticed the same thing with our son, who's now 5. He has trouble distinguishing red/green and blue/purple. Not at all uncommon, especially if it runs in the family (my brother is color blind).

I mentioned it to my pediatrician at our 5-year well visit - she just made a note of it and nothing more was discussed. And she's a great doctor!! It may just be part of him, like the color of his hair or the shape of his ears. It won't affect him being a super smart kid. =)

Jen
www.morethanmothers.com

What Kelly K said is great:

The first step in color recognition is to ask him "which toy is red?" out of a group of toys of each color. If he can do that then he is doing fine. Asking "what color is this?" is a higher level skill and should be asked once he can answer the other correctly.

Did he just turn 3? I remember thinking with both my children they were color blind. (Because one of their Grandpa's are) With my second, I was almost sure...because no matter how much we practiced colors she just couldn't get all the colors right. Well low and behold just the other day we had a box of crayons and she told me all the basic colors correctly. (Oh and she is 3 1/2 now)

So....I'd say if he just turned 3 give him more time.

The first step in color recognition is to ask him "which toy is red?" out of a group of toys of each color. If he can do that then he is doing fine. Asking "what color is this?" is a higher level skill and should be asked once he can answer the other correctly.

I don't know much about colorblindness, but I did have an older three year old in my class one time that was. Good luck.

It's possible but it's too early to tell. I wouldn't worry about it until kindergarten or first grade, to be honest.

People can be born color blind.But,he is only 3,so it may just be something he isn't ready to learn yet.

Yes, he absolutely could be colorblind. Since you state that your father was colorblind, the gene would be carried by you and passed on to your sons, who would most likely be colorblind. Their daughters, in turn, would be carriers who would then pass the colorblindness on to their sons. My father was colorblind, and both of my sons (now grown) are also colorblind. It was not a major problem, and they were diagnosed around 6 or 7, with a specific "color dot" test. Color blind people would not see the colored number within the dots, or see a different number, than non-color blind people. But, as I said, it didn't hinder them. One is now a doctor, and the other is an engineer in the Air Force, although he cannot be a pilot. I would encourage you to continue working with him, but not to the point of frustration, then have him tested when he is older.

Renee D answered this question appropriately..in that color blindness is carried through the female line. Both of my grandfather, male cousins, brother are all color blind. But, my son is NOT colorblind. When he was a toddler and I worried about it (strictly from the family history stand point), the doctor told me that they would not officially test him until he was about 5. Well, by 5, he knew his colors so well that I did not even consider getting him tested (he can really tell his colors and even various shades of color).

But, just so you know, my brother refuses to admit he is colorblind (he has been tested multiple times and fails every test, but he insists that he can see colors). One of my grandfathers was adament this way as well and he also failed military color blindness tests. So, some people are not that bad off when it comes to color blindness. But, keep in mind, color blindness is generally related to green/red and blue/yellow.

Good luck!
L.

Absolutely women can be colorblind (totally, grey scale only, red/green, etc.). It's more common in men, but it happens in women, as well.

Except for in rare cases of injury or illness, a person is born colorblind. It just takes awhile to figure out.

Yes, they can be -- my son did this exact thing when he was a toddler -- we took him to be tested and he was FINE!!!! He did it because he was stubborn!! He knew his colors and just messed with me -- so I would say take him to be tested -- you will feel better knowing!
E.