Johnathan Whigham is red-green color blind, a condition that affects on 1 in 12 men, (8 percent) and 1 in 200 woman (.5 percent). To Johnathan, the world appears grey, dull, and washed out. He can’t see many of the colors the rest of us take for granted; red and green stoplights, the colors of a sunset or sunrise, tell blue from purple and much more. In school, it was a trial, as color-coded social studies maps, science graphs and other colored information do not appear, as they should to Johnathan. Johnathan’s parents, Alan and Kim Whigham, heard about a nationwide contest sponsored by Clorox, and the company, EnChroma, that produces glasses that aid the color blind in seeing more colors. The contest asked colorblind schoolchildren to submit a video describing what they thought the future would look like. (Johnathan’s video can be found at https://www.youtube.co-m/watch?v=I3v5meLo8c). There were nearly 200 entries from across the nation as colorblind school aged children submitted their videos, and of those who were chosen to be the winners of the glasses; Johnathan was among them. Johnathan received his EnChroma glasses on Nov. 28 and his parents captured his reaction to being able to see colors that he has never been able to experience in a video. (The reaction video can be found at: https://www.you-tube.com/watch?v=9jjJeGOiUbI&feature=youtu.be. Being able to see the full array of color can be an emotional experience, and a quick Google search of ‘Enchroma glasses reaction’ proves what EnChroma is bringing to people who have color vision deficiencies. To learn more about EnChroma, their mission, and their glasses or to browse a collection of video clips about people and their experiences with EnChroma glasses, you can visit enchroma.com.
Shown above is Johnathan Whigham, son of Alan and Kim Whigham in his new EnChroma glasses.