Hello Stephanie,
As you know I have been teaching an on line histology course for the University of South Carolina for a number years. With now in my 18 semester since Spring 2011 and having over 1700 students complete the course, I have had less than 6 students express concern about color vision. Several semesters ago I posted some help for this on my course web site. I am sharing you here some of that including a few articles attached.
First, I would remind us that the best term for inability to distinguish certain colors is "color deficiency", not "color blindness". Color vision deficiency is the inability to distinguish certain shades of color or in more severe cases, see colors at all. The term "color blindness" is also used to describe this visual condition, but very few people are completely color blind and so that term is a misnomer. People who cannot see color at all are truly "color blind". The medical term for this is achromotopsia. Persons with achromotopsia can only see things as black and white or in shades of gray. Most people with color vision deficiency can see colors, but they have difficulty differentiating between particular shades of reds and greens (most common) or blues and yellows (less common). Certainly, color is a factor in our every day lives, size, shape, position /location and density give important clues for distinguishing one object from another. Consider the street and highway signs. What is the shape for a stop sign, a speed limit sign,and a crosswalk sign? The next time you walk or drive, take notice. Then, there is the traffic light with red always on top, yellow in the middle and green below. A search on the Internet using these phrases "color blindness and professions", "color deficiency and professions" will yield information on how color deficiency may be a factor in success in a profession.
I ask my students to consider this:
Question: If I cannot differentiate colors clearly, will this affect my learning histology?
Answer: Not as long as you recognize learning histology is not about color.
Why: Because, stains are used mostly to visualize histological specimens, not to distinguish and resolve structures.
Then I share with them this:
It is the size, shape, position/location, gradients of density, presence or absence of granules and much more that does not depend upon color that are the real enablers for recognizing and distinguishing between cells, tissues, structures, organs, parts of organs. The American Flag as seen by different degrees of color blindness (really color deficiency) demonstrates how size, shape and location provide sufficient information to recognize the flag. I provide the image of the Flag that illustrates 5 variants of color deficiency. You can access it at a wikispaces science page where you will see the image of the flag in the history of color:
https://thescienceclassroom.wikispaces.com/Colors
I then share with my students the atlas of histology by Reith and Ross that was entirely black and white. The First Edition of an "Atlas of Descriptive Histology" authored by Edward J. Reith and Micael H. Ross and published in the early 1970s, dealt with the possibility of students learning histology who had color deficiency. This text appeared in the preface of the atlas:
"The interpretation of a histologic slide primarily involves the recognition of forms, general organization, and location of parts. Identification by specific color reaction is less important. This point is emphasized by the use of black and white in the Atlas. The histologist can recognize cross striations regardless of whether they are stained red with eosin, dark blue with iron hematoxylin, or unstained and examined with phase contrast optics; he can recognize nuclei regardless of whether they are stained dark blue by hematoxylin of an H & E stained or red by Acid Fuchsin of a trichrome. He does this by considering their form, arrangement and location. The histology student should attempt to develop this skill, for he will quickly learn that a particular organ or tissue stained at different times, by different people may not have quite the same color characteristics. This is not to say that the histologist does not make use of staining reactions; he does. However, he depends more on differences rather than specific color reaction. It should be noted that whereas the black and white reproductions do show the differences in staining reaction, they emphasize the more important criteria, namely, shape, location, and organization."
I then invite my students to take a look at this 4 page PDF of several pages out of the 3rd edition of this atlas. Look especially at the fourth page which is a page showing a specimen of hyaline cartilage at different magnifications. I attached a PDF of the pages of the 3rd edition of the "Atlas of Descriptive Histology" by Edward J. Reith and Michael H. Ross.
I also share with my students a peer-reviewed paper was published in the Journal of Anatomical Sciences Education, 2009 titled "Using Color and Grayscale Images to Teach Histology to Color-deficient Medical Students. Take special note of the text that appears in the second paragraph, part of which is highlighted for emphasis. Also, observe how you can still determine form, shape and densities in the gray scale specimens compared the same specimen stained with hematoxylin and eosin. (PDF of the article with highlighting is attached).
I had an email exchange with a student recently who has a color deficiency and is concerned about performance in the course. The email exchange is attached in PDF.
Lastly, I share this with the students if they wish to learn more:
If you would like to know more, follow these two links from the American Optometric Association:
http://www.aoa.org/patients-and-public/eye-and-vision-problems/glossary-of-eye-and-vision-conditions/color-deficiency?sso=y
and, a site called the Archimedes Laboratory Project that has much about color deficiency, including several tests:
http://www.archimedes-lab.org/colorblindnesstest.html#visione
I hope all of this is helpful and contributes to the discussion thread.
Bob
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Robert W. Ogilvie, PhD
Visiting Professor, University of South Carolina
Professor Emeritus, Medical University of South Carolina
Columbia & Charleston, South Carolina
Cell Phone: (843) 693-1065
Email:
rogilvie31@yahoo.com
Original Message:
Sent: 08-30-2016 08:30
From: Stefanie Attardi
Subject: Accommodated examinations for color blind students
Hello histologists!
Furthering the discussion that Brent Thompson initiated in the Open Forum about accommodated anatomy practical exams....
What strategies have you used to accommodate color blind students when testing histological concepts using a virtual microscope or micrographs? We have some color blind students seeking test accommodations because they have experienced difficulty completing histology laboratory activities.
In this paper, the authors describe adjusting hue in the images: http://www.dentistry.bham.ac.uk/medicalimaging/page4.asp
I also thought that a modified copy of the exam could be offered that has some descriptive labels on the images. E.g. "this area is basophilic" or outlining shapes in a color that the student can see.
I am interested in hearing about your experiences and ideas.
Thank you,
Stefanie
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Stefanie Attardi
Assistant Professor
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Rochester MI
248 370 2830
sattardi@oakland.edu
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