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The news site of Glenbrook South High School.

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The news site of Glenbrook South High School.

The Oracle

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Color blind students, faculty experience unique perspective

You groan as your alarm clock goes off at 6:30 a.m. You get up, vision blurry, and grab your red electric toothbrush. Next you open the brown doors of your closet to pick from a variety of clothing. You pick blue jeans, a green top and your favorite pair of red TOMS. You run down the stairs and your mother asks you to grab her favorite beige jacket. You make it out just in time to get on the yellow school bus.

Seeing all colors is a natural concept for most, but for others it is more foreign. According to Genetics Home Reference, more than 8 percent of males and 0.5 percent of females are color blind or have some sort of color deficiency. Since males only have one X chromosome, if they have the color blind trait on that chromosome, they will be color blind. Females have two X chromosomes, so they need two color blind genes to express the trait. Because of this, more males tend to be color blind than females.

According to art teacher Natalie Ingaunis, color blindness prevents one from seeing many colors. The colors that are most commonly unseen are red and green.

“Usually, they understand the range of colors, and they can see differences in the values of the colors,” Ingaunis said. “So, they can choose a yellow from a red, just based on the fact that yellow is lighter in value than red is.”

Junior Aaron Gamalinda found out that he was color blind at age six.

“In first grade on Mother’s Day, we were coloring pictures of our moms and I colored mine sea green,” Gamalinda said. “The teacher told my parents, so we just went to the eye doctor and they tested me.”

Junior Justin Ruderman found out he was color blind in second grade when his mother took him to the eye doctor for a routine checkup.

“They did a test which had 100 dots on a page and between the dots there would be a number in a different color,” Ruderman said. “As you turned the page the colors got much more similar to one another. I think I got the first two right and then everything started to look the same.”

Band Director Gregory Wojcik is also color blind.

“I went to a Catholic grammar school, and I always thought I was a lousy artist, but [my teachers] noticed something was wrong,” Wojcik said.

Gamalinda explained that being color blind does not mean that he cannot see colors.

“I consider myself color blind because I cannot tell the difference between colors,” Gamalinda said. “Color blindness does not mean you cannot see colors, it just means you have color deficiencies.”

Gamalinda explained that blue and purple look the same, as do gray and pink.

“I do not know what I see, I have just kind of learned what [colors] should look like,” Gamalinda said. “So when something looks like what I have gotten used to I can kind of guess what [color] it is.”

Ruderman also explained that blue and purple, orange and green, and red and brown all look similar to him. The  biggest challenge this presents to him is matching his clothes.

“It is a hassle because there is some stuff you cannot do—mostly shopping,” Ruderman said. “If I have to draw anything for class, it just does not work.”

Wojcik explained that being color blind sometimes makes him mismatch his clothing.

“I do not dress too well,” Wojcik said. “One time when I was a young teacher, I thought I had on this amazing gray shirt with these very cool black pants. Some of the kids came up to me and said, ‘Mr. Wojcik, it is really cool that you are able to wear pink and it does not bother you.’”

According to Ruderman and Gamalinda, being color blind does not greatly impact their schoolwork. Ruderman explained, however, that during physics this year he had to adjust how he learned the material when the class was learning with colors.

“We were labeling the high pressure and low pressure [in circuits], and they were color coordinating it,” Ruderman said. “I would just make designs [instead] or else I would have confused myself.”

According to Ingaunis, the color blind students that she has in class use one color and add in black or white to help create shades in their work.

“The few students that I have encountered, they really have not needed a whole lot of accommodations,” Ingaunis explained. “Today, all of our pencils we use […] have the label color on it, so you can make choices that way as well. You are not just [guided] by sight.”

When Wojcik was a professional musician, he used to label his tuxedo shirts with their colors so he would not arrive at a show in a different color than everyone else. But according to Wojcik, he has the most difficult time with his color blindness when instructing the marching band.

“Where I really have trouble is out on the football field,” Wojcik said. “When they line it for soccer, I cannot tell the different lines.”

Despite the difficulties Wojcik faces, he has learned to accept his color blindness.

“I do not know any different so it is not a big deal to me that I am [color blind],” Wojcik said. “People tell me, ‘That is terrible,’ because sometimes the green grass looks orange to me like a pumpkin, and they think that is weird. But to me it is natural and that is the way I have always seen it, so it is not a big deal.”

 

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