Color Blindness

Apex Lions Club had the pleasure of hosting Lion Glenda Grant, a member of the Wake Forest Lions Club, as our guest speaker this evening. Glenda is a retired RN and moved to Wake Forest in 2007 from Hickory, NC. During the course of her career, she even helped deliver some babies! Glenda served as an Ophthalmic Nurse for many years and traveled to many foreign countries. Her first husband was a Lion and she and her children sold brooms, canes, peanuts and anything else Lions sold for many years and she joined the Wake Forest Lions club in 2016. Glenda shared her knowledge on color blindness with us, shedding light on an often overlooked aspect of visual impairment.

The club learned that while we focus their efforts on serving the blind and visually impaired people, also known as “VIPs,” we should consider extending our reach to include those affected by color blindness. An estimated 1 out of 12 men (8%) suffer from some form of color blindness, while it’s significantly less common in women at just 1 out of 200.

The presentation covered the science behind this condition and provided examples of how color-blind individuals perceive the world differently. The examples demonstrated the challenges faced by those with color blindness, especially when it comes to certain environments or tasks like schoolwork for children.

However, there is hope for some people affected by color blindness. EnChroma, a company specializing in vision solutions, has developed special glasses that can help approximately 80% of color-blind individuals see colors more vividly. The glasses are specifically designed to assist those with the most common form of color blindness – red/green.

During the presentation, we had the opportunity to witness videos showcasing people trying on these glasses for the first time and experiencing colors they have never seen before. Additionally, EnChroma offers resources that can be integrated into the club’s vision screenings, such as an online color blindness test.

Moreover, there is an Accessibility Program available through EnChroma that our club may be able to utilize in order to obtain a pair of these glasses. This would enable us to evaluate their effectiveness for individuals who discover they are color-blind and have never had access to corrective solutions before.

In other news, the Apex Lions Club welcomed its newest member – Rob Tripp. Rob first encountered the club during this year’s Peakfest event, where he was encouraged by his wife to join our efforts in service. We look forward to getting to know him better through future meetings and joint activities as we continue to make a positive impact on our community.