Supporting Colour Blindness in Education and Beyond by Marie Difolco

Author:Marie Difolco
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781040186695
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2024-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

Shattered dreams

I think one of the most distressing things must be to not know you’re Colour Blind until you’re turned away from your dream job, but unfortunately this is the reality for some people when they fail a ‘mandatory’ pre-employment colour vision test. A crushing disappointment like this is bound to have negative connotations for mental health.

A feature length documentary Life without Color by filmmaker Robb Jacobson (Jacobson, 2017) is an interesting film and sums up the loss that some Colour Blind people feel when their dreams are shattered.

The 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine (Faris, 2016), though fictional, also depicts what it might feel like to be in this situation. In one particular scene Dwayne learns of his Colour Blindness, then his uncle shatters his ambition when he tells him pilots aren’t allowed to have Colour Blindness. Dwayne breaks down, hits the car and walks off crying. It’s a pretty harrowing watch for the parent of a Colour Blind child and an important reminder that setting expectations early will hopefully avoid such gut wrenching disappointment.

Although most children won’t learn about their Colour Blindness in unfortunate circumstances, entering the workplace for the first time is daunting for anyone, let alone for someone with an unrecognised, non-visible SEND. If the child hasn’t been diagnosed, they’re likely to be leaving school harbouring some insecurities and the things that confused them in the classroom are only going to be magnified when they leave. Even with a diagnosis the child will be wondering if they should hide their condition or reveal it to their new employer. Hiding it could mean they end up in a situation where they make a dangerous, costly or embarrassing mistake. Revealing it might leave them feeling vulnerable, and, if they do decide to speak up about it, when should they do it? Do they reveal it at interview when they’re likely to be nervous already and risk not getting the job, or do they tell their new employer if they’re offered the position, who then might be unhappy they didn’t raise it previously?

In her article ‘Invisible Impairments: Dilemmas of Concealment and Disclosure’ (Lingsom, 2008), author Susan Lingsom says, ’Social conventions support silence’ and that ‘People with invisible impairments have a lot of explaining to do if others are to understand impairment effects’. Having a non-visible disability, myself (albeit not Colour Blindness) I relate. In my experience you want to tell people you require reasonable adjustments, but it can be uncomfortable doing so or deciding when to do it. There’s always a temptation to want to blend in, to be ‘normal’, but with age and growing confidence I tend to agree with Lingsom when she says by keeping an impairment hidden I ‘contribute nothing to dismantling social and structural barriers to participation, belonging and wellbeing of all people’. Society has a duty to help build confidence in people with non-visible disabilities though, so they feel empowered to discuss them without concern for the consequences.

This has to start in school.

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