” Color Vision Deficiency isn’t the end of the world it is just a different view of it.”

A better term for COLOR BLINDNESS is COLOR VISION DEFICIENCY or CVD

Karen Levine is a Long Island Momee of three children: Amanda (23 years old), David (22 years old) and Andrew (19 years old). Karen is a local Long Island Author with a mission. Her mission is to increase awareness of Color Vision Deficiency in early education.

Karen has written 2 award-winning books and has more in the works. Her other book is titled: Sister Raven and is a young adult novel.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Karen and I wanted to share it with all of you:

Where did your passion of raising awareness of CVD come from?

Karen: ” My son Andrew is Color Blind and was diagnosed when he was in preschool. His teacher at the time asked to speak with me and told me that she believed Andrew was colorblind. I followed up with a Pediatric Optometrist and he confirmed Andrew was colorblind. The optometrist told me It doesn’t matter and that there is nothing I can do about it and Andrew will be fine.”

How did Andrew get CVD?

Karen: ” Color Blindness is hereditary. You inherit it and you can not catch it. My father was color blind and he passed the color blind gene to me. I am not colorblind but I had a 50% chance of my son being colorblind.”

What are the statistics?

Karen: “About one out of twelve boys has CVD. And about one out of two hundred girls has CVD. My son Andrew has a red/green deficiency and this is the most common deficiency amongst those diagnosed with CVD.”

How early can a child be tested for CVD and what does the testing entail?

Karen: ” A child can be tested as early as 4 years old. Any child with a parent who is colorblind should be tested or if the mother’s father was colorblind then the child should definitely be tested. Also, I feel it is very important for special needs children to be tested since they are color dependent. But, overall I think ALL children should be tested for CVD. The test is called the Color Vision Test Made Easy by Dr. T.L. Wagner and is a test that incorporates shapes with colors. The test is a positive one for children because there is always a shape that a child can see. This test has been around since the year 2000 and is a great test.”

Is learning and everyday life affected by being diagnosed with CVD?

Karen: ” Unfortunately YES, and especially in our technology driven world today. In classrooms the smart screens and computers are used in teaching and if a child can not see the colors then the imagery and words can be blurry and things are missed. There are a lot of reading/ math issues due to colors as well as patterns that are not easily seen by a child with CVD. Since the colors red and green are not easily seen playing sports, playing a board game like Candyland and playing video games/ computer games are difficult since the colors are not seen well. A colorblind child thinks everyone sees the way he/she sees color. “

Photo taken from : Penn State University website

This is how a person with CVD and has a red/green deficiency sees a stoplight.

Since there is no cure for CVD what are some coping mechanisms you can suggest?

Karen: ” For a parent ( I did the same for my son ) you must encourage your child to keep their confidence and make sure your child communicates to others especially their teachers that they are color blind. And that there may be confusion when it comes to learning because of the use of colors and that your child is still very smart but doesn’t see everything the way someone who does not have CVD sees things.”

Those with CVD usually keep it to themselves and Karen wants the stigma of not telling people you have CVD to go away.

Karen was inspired by her son to write her book: All About Color Blindness.

The book is written for a child to understand what Color Vision Deficency (CVD) is and that they can read the book with their parent(s).

The book is well written and easy to understand.

You can purchase the hardcover version or an e book of All About Color Blindness A Guide to Color Vision Defeciency—-> Amazon

Read more about Karen Levine by going to her website: Karen Rae Levine

Contact her: Email Karen@KarenRaeLevine.com

Check out her website All About Color Blindness for children/ parents and educators.

You can purchase products to promote color vision pride and awareness —> Shop

” You have your rainbow. And I have mine”

Related articles

• All About Color Blindness: A Guide to Color Vision Deficiency for Kids (and Grown-ups Too) (homeschoolbookreviewblog.wordpress.com)