The Red Green Show for Children

Red-green color blindness is more common than many people believe. About 7% of males and about 1% of females have red-green color blindness.

Red-green color blindness (dichromatism) is genetic and carried on the X chromosome. Fathers (XY) may pass it to only their daughters. Mothers (XX) may pass it to only their sons.

Red-green color blindness is not a serious affliction. It simply means that a red-green color-blind person has a defective color receptor and will have difficulty differentiating between the two colors. For this reason, do not be frustrated if your child becomes confused when red and green appear together.

If your child seems to have difficulty identifying red objects on green backgrounds and green objects on red backgrounds, consider limiting use of toys and teaching materials containing those color combinations. As soon as practical, have your child’s vision tested. Even if your child is color-blind, he or she will learn to cope. Millions of other people manage to deal with color blindness successfully every day.