Color Blind Testing

A color blind test is a test administered by an eye doctor or other healthcare professional to detect the presence of color blindness or to determine the type and severity of color blindness.

Today, most children are given eye exams in elementary school. These eye exams include a screening for color blindness. The best-known color blind test is the Ishihara Color Vision Test. This test consists of a book of Ishihara plates. There is one plate per page. A plate is consists of a circular pattern of dots of varying colors, sizes, and brightness. The person being tested is placed in a room with normal lighting and allowed to wear his own glasses, if applicable. A person with normal vision will be able to detect a one- or two-digit number within the plate, while a color blind person will not see the number.
There are other color blind tests available, at variable degrees of reliability, either online or administered in person. A visit to an eye care professional is crucial for anyone who has questions or concerns about his vision and overall eye health, as he will be provided with the most current information available and the type of color blind test that is best suited for him.

Understanding Color Blind Testing in Massapequa, NY

Millions of Americans experience color vision deficiency (color blindness). It's a serious inherited or acquired condition that can adversely impact a child's or adult's life. People with color blindness can have difficulty recognizing different colors. They can also have problems distinguishing between shades and brightness of colors. Some people can't see the differences between green and red or blue and yellow. Others live in a world that looks like an old black-and-white movie displaying only shades of white, black and gray. As a result, they have a more bland visual experience than those with normal vision. Additionally, they're ill-equipped for a world where people often use colors to communicate.

A person with color vision deficiency can't always recognize color cues that help people safely eat foods. They might eat undercooked meat or an unripe banana. They can also have initial difficulty, when seconds matter during an emergency, determining if a liquid on their clothes or body is blood from a hidden injury or if a darker skin shade after sunbathing or spending time outdoors is a tan or burned skin. Those with green-red color blindness can't easily recognize red emergency alerts or traffic signals. At their jobs, people with color blindness can have difficulty reading color-coded file tabs and charts. Those with families can't always recognize color signals that help them safeguard their loved ones.

Testing for color blindness during eye exams is critical. Although children typically receive this type of testing from kindergarten through 5th grade using the Ishihara testing standard, some people don't become color blind until adulthood. Diseases and even medications can cause color vision deficiencies. An eye doctor in a professional office setting performs Color Blind Testing during eye exams with standard lighting to check for all possible forms and levels of severity. No cure exists to correct color blindness. If an optometrist determines that you have this condition during an eye exam, they can help you better understand the cause and outline available treatment options. They might recommend special eyeglasses, contact lenses or phone and tablet apps that use photo mapping to tell you one or more colors in a photographed image via voice or onscreen text. At our Ultra Vision Optical Center in Massapequa, our optometrist, Dr. Jason Bart, administers the most up-to-date tests for color vision deficiency and other conditions.

 

ULTRA VISION OPTICAL CENTER