What its like to be colorblind

in #health8 years ago

How I found out I was colorblind

I first found out i was colorblind when I was in the second grade. I remember lining up in the back of the class to take a test where a lady had a book with pictures of a lot of shapes and different colors. She told me to tell her what numbers do i see within the shapes. Click here to see what test I took that told me I was colorblind.

Do I only see black and white?

No not at all. Many people think just because you're "colorblind" you only see black and white. This is a total misconception. I can see every color. It's when a color is a lighter or darker shade, I start to guess what color it is. The way I tell the color of something is by comparing it to something I know. For instance, I know what a red apple looks like. So anything that is close to color as a red apple, I will call it red. Watch the video below and take the test to see if you're colorblind...

Till this very day, I remember struggling trying to find the numbers within the shapes and different shades of colors. All the other kids were finding the numbers with ease... I was devastated to say the least... I felt lost and confused...

What's it like to be colorblind...

Below you will see some of the things I deal with and what it's like to be colorblind...

I live a pretty normal life to say the least. As a kid being colorblind, it didn't really bother me as opposed to when I became an adult. I used to own a forest green ford ranger truck and thought it was black for a long time until my friend told me it was forest green. After high school, I decided I wanted to join the military so I took the ASVAB. It was then when they found out that I was colorblind I was limited to specific jobs. I decided at that point I wasn't going to join the military and went to college instead.
I remember working with kids at the YWCA and there was a time where they would do some coloring and I would sit there and color with them. One of the girls ask me to hand her the purple crayon and I handed her a blue crayon. I once bought some shades thinking they were silver and my girlfriend told me they were pink. I sometimes get confused with the traffic signals. From a distance the red and yellow lights look the same to me. It's only when I get closer to the light I find out its true color because of the location of the light, top, middle, bottom...
When it comes to fashion, I tend to stick to basic colors. Black, blue, white and grey are my favorites, and you'll see me wearing it most of the time...
Well that's it for now, I found a pretty cool video where colorblind people see color for the first time, check it out below...

Let me know how you did on the colorblind test and if you or know someone that is colorblind too in the comments below. Thank you for reading...

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I wasn't sure as a kid, but by 13 they figured it out. However, that was 58 years ago. Glad you have a handle on it. Good post