After many years of simply stating that I am “colour blind” I now have a more definite diagnosis.
I am what the optometrists like to call a “strong deutan”. Allow me to explain.
With someone like me who has deuteranopia or red-green colour blindness, the medium wavelength sensitive cones (green) are missing all together. A deuteranope can only distinguish 2 to 3 different hues, whereas somebody with normal vision sees 7 different hues. It is not only red and green that I have trouble with but also greys, purples, and greenish-blues. Basically, I have a tough time differentiating between hues that are close together and also “blend” colours within the red to green spectrum (approximately 700 to 500 nanometres).
I always wondered why I am having the “No, it is blue” argument when people insist it is purple or green. Also, I honestly have trouble picking out a stop sign when it is surrounded in green foliage. Obviously I do not mean it is covered by leaves but rather the backdrop of the stop sign is leaves.
One more hurdle in my identification skills but I am still technically the best in my program. I wonder how that happened. Perhaps I study too much. That Purple Finch versus a House Finch is killer (colour wise) but they do look structurally different. I will just have to rely on shape rather than colour.
Needless to say, I went for an eye exam today. In amongst that I also ran some chores and marveled in how lovely it is to have something to do. I mean, relaxing is all good in theory but after a while it can get tedious. This frustrating job search has made me realize that perhaps I should just find a good volunteer position to keep my mind and hands busy. I might go a little batty without something to do.
Wish me luck, mes amies.
- Jeffrey
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