About 2 weeks ago I got a call from the school nurse regarding Grayson. My first thought went to that he was sick. But she said no he is fine.
The words she spoke next made me so very confused
"Graysons teacher has noticed that he was having trouble with his colors so she brought him down to be tested for Color blindness and he has failed the test so we recommend that you get him looked at by his pediatrician"
I'm pretty sure I responded with "Um what?" because this was the first we had heard of any concern over him knowing his colors. She sent home the test results and the next day I called our Dr.
In talking to the Dr he decided that the best course of action was to go directly to a pediatric ophthalmologist who specializes in this. Thankfully there is an amazing one about an hour from us and they got him in the following week.
So Michael took off Friday and my Mom came to watch Marshall and Charlotte and off we went to our 9:15 appointment. We had talked to him about it prior and had approached it as this is something every kid has to do before they go to kindergarten kind of like going to the dentist. No. Big.Deal. We did stress that it was very important that he answer all the Dr's questions when asked and that he answer them honestly. We did this so that he didn't feel any unnecessary pressure like something should be wrong with him. We just wanted him to go into it like it was just another test for school and not because something was wrong with him
The resident came in and gave him a sight test and then gave him the color test and I could tell right there before anyone said anything that he failed the color test. He got one right and that was the one that everyone can see. She kept saying "Are you sure that you can't see and numbers in this picture?" and he would just shake his head no. All the other ones on the color test he failed. The doctor came in and told us that yes he was in fact color blind and that on a scale of 1-10 he was a solid 4-5. He can see color but certain shades and certain colors are hard to tell between. He is also near sited so he has a hard time seeing things far away but it's not to the point of glasses yet. So we will monitor him every year or take him in if we see him squinting or he starts complaining of headaches. Other than that he has perfectly healthy eyes.
He has the hardest time with darker colors so if red and brown is in front of him it all looks red. If blue and purple are in front of him it's all blue. Black and gray all look gray. Basically if there are too many colors it becomes all muddled and the color there is the most of is what he sees. His biggest color problem though is yellow he sees green every time. He has always said he doesn't like yellow and I couldn't figure out why well that's because he doesn't see it.
So Michael took off Friday and my Mom came to watch Marshall and Charlotte and off we went to our 9:15 appointment. We had talked to him about it prior and had approached it as this is something every kid has to do before they go to kindergarten kind of like going to the dentist. No. Big.Deal. We did stress that it was very important that he answer all the Dr's questions when asked and that he answer them honestly. We did this so that he didn't feel any unnecessary pressure like something should be wrong with him. We just wanted him to go into it like it was just another test for school and not because something was wrong with him
The resident came in and gave him a sight test and then gave him the color test and I could tell right there before anyone said anything that he failed the color test. He got one right and that was the one that everyone can see. She kept saying "Are you sure that you can't see and numbers in this picture?" and he would just shake his head no. All the other ones on the color test he failed. The doctor came in and told us that yes he was in fact color blind and that on a scale of 1-10 he was a solid 4-5. He can see color but certain shades and certain colors are hard to tell between. He is also near sited so he has a hard time seeing things far away but it's not to the point of glasses yet. So we will monitor him every year or take him in if we see him squinting or he starts complaining of headaches. Other than that he has perfectly healthy eyes.
He has the hardest time with darker colors so if red and brown is in front of him it all looks red. If blue and purple are in front of him it's all blue. Black and gray all look gray. Basically if there are too many colors it becomes all muddled and the color there is the most of is what he sees. His biggest color problem though is yellow he sees green every time. He has always said he doesn't like yellow and I couldn't figure out why well that's because he doesn't see it.
Michael and I have processed this and then processed it some more. I want to let you know that I'm very aware that it could be worse. That in the grand scheme of things this is minor. I'm aware. But as a parent any thing that may hinder or change your child's life at all is a blow. So please just know that I'm not trying to act like this is the end of the world. It was just such a shock.
So my first reaction was how did I his mother not see this? How did I not pick up on this? How many times have I gotten frustrated with him for not picking up what I asked him when I referenced a color or getting the black shirt when I clearly asked him for the blue one? How many times has he come up to me and said "Mommy is this the purple crayon?" and I have gotten aggravated with him because "Grayson you know that's not purple"
Guilt washed over my body. I felt like I had failed him.
Michael's reaction was different. He wanted to know how to fix it. How do we get this taken care of. And well there is no fix which as a parent it hard to swallow.
Our other big issue is relating to him. I have had to now correct myself on how I identify things to him. For example we were at my niece's swim meet a few days after the school nurse called and he kept asking which one was Libby (we were across the pool and up from her) and I kept saying to him "She is the one with the pink swim cap on" and he continued to ask and then it clicked what if he doesn't see pink? Because he still couldn't point Libby out to me and she was the only one with a bright pink swim cap on. Again a wash of guilt pinged in my heart because I was getting frustrated with him because I could clearly see it so why couldn't he?
I told that story to the Dr. and he said that the further away he is that harder color will be to see.
So the Dr. told Grayson right in the room that he was color blind. Grayson's eye's just got big and he got really quite. So we talked with the Dr. and then once we got in the car we talked to him about it.
He was so fine with it because really he doesn't know any different.
We have started an open dialogue with him and I just have been asking him more and more what he sees. Plus I don't want him to think that it its wrong what he sees, even if it different from what the majority sees. So the other day after hockey I made a comment about his yellow shorts and he said "These shorts are yellow? I thought they were green!" I told him "nope yellow" He then said to me "Well you do know I'm color blind right?" He has taken this all in stride and really just is not affected by it.
It's just an adjustment. More for me and Michael and the adults in his life than for Grayson. His life is the same but the way we identify things to him has to change a little bit. We are working on it.
I told that story to the Dr. and he said that the further away he is that harder color will be to see.
So the Dr. told Grayson right in the room that he was color blind. Grayson's eye's just got big and he got really quite. So we talked with the Dr. and then once we got in the car we talked to him about it.
He was so fine with it because really he doesn't know any different.
We have started an open dialogue with him and I just have been asking him more and more what he sees. Plus I don't want him to think that it its wrong what he sees, even if it different from what the majority sees. So the other day after hockey I made a comment about his yellow shorts and he said "These shorts are yellow? I thought they were green!" I told him "nope yellow" He then said to me "Well you do know I'm color blind right?" He has taken this all in stride and really just is not affected by it.
It's just an adjustment. More for me and Michael and the adults in his life than for Grayson. His life is the same but the way we identify things to him has to change a little bit. We are working on it.
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