It was an early spring day. A silk poinsettia sat on the dispensing desk. I suggested that the holidays had long passed, and it seemed a bit out of place. “We use it to demonstrate color vision enhancement with Enchroma lenses,” the optician told me. I sat in on the consultation with a young man and his family.

“When he was young, I hoped he had a problem with color vision otherwise it meant he was stupid,” Dad said with a smile. Younger sister watched her brother. “He doesn’t see things like I do, and I don’t know why.” You could hear the hope in her voice that he shared her vision.

The family had driven a few hours to try glasses they heard might improve color vision for their son. He would enter college in the fall, and they felt it was important for him to have the benefit of good color vision—if it were possible.

The genetic defect that causes a majority of color vision deficiency affects more than 13 million people in the United States. This defect results in diminished red/green color perception. But because most colors are a mixture of primary colors (red, green, blue), perception of the entire color palette is washed out, making the visual world a pretty dull place.

First came a test of the sunwear lenses. The young man walked outside with his entourage and the optician. “Wow! Everything seems so bright!” he exclaimed. A barrage of questions from the family quickly followed. “Can you see the traffic light?” “What color is that house?” “Have you ever seen the color of that man’s shirt before?” Quickly looking in the direction each person pointed, the young man answered their questions enthusiastically. “Yes! Green!” “No, I’ve never seen that color shirt, but now I know it’s red!” Everyone followed the young man as he walked around just looking. More questions; more answers; the excitement was palpable.

Next came a test of the indoor lenses. The young man correctly identified the leaves and flowers of the poinsettia. Then the optician presented a box of colored pencils. “Show me the red ones, the green ones, the brown ones,” she said. He responded quickly and accurately. Younger sister cheered. When the optician brought out an unraveled cable of multicolored wires, this was no longer about the “Wow!” factor. The importance of accurate color discrimination hit home for all of us. Perhaps this young man wasn’t going to become an electrician, but even a do-it-yourself home or car repair could be dangerous if he selected the wrong color wire.

No more testing was needed. The young man felt that the sunwear lenses provided the most benefit and selected a stylish pair. Everyone was smiling, and you can be sure the ride home was filled with more “What color is that?” questions. I put the poinsettia away before I got the urge to write out holiday cards, and I thought about what I had just seen. Being a witness to the excitement from the young man and his family over his improved quality of vision and quality of life was extraordinary. To find out more about color vision deficiency and color vision perception, check out the CE “The Science Behind Color Enhancement – Part 1” at 2020mag.com/ce.

• Linda Conlin
[email protected]
2020mag.com/education