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Children with blindness - major causes, developmental outcomes and implications for habilitation and educational

Kim de Verdier1,2, Ek Ulla1, Stefan Löfgren3

  • 1Department of Special Education, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

Acta Ophthalmologica
|November 24, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Congenital blindness in children is rarely isolated, often co-occurring with intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder. This highlights the need for comprehensive support for children with multiple disabilities.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Ophthalmology
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Background:

  • Congenital or early infancy blindness affects children, necessitating understanding of associated conditions.
  • Prevalence and causes of blindness in this population require detailed investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To describe the population of children with congenital or early infancy blindness in Sweden.
  • To identify the causes of blindness and the prevalence of neurodevelopmental impairments in this cohort.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of medical, psychological, and pedagogical records of children born between 1988-2008 with severe visual impairment.
  • Data collected included birth year, gender, cause of blindness, gestational age, and co-occurring neurological and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Main Results:

  • 150 children were identified, with a prevalence of 7/100,000. Top causes included retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH), Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), optic nerve atrophy (ONA), and microphthalmia/anophthalmia.
  • Nearly 75% of children had additional disabilities, most commonly intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Over half had multiple disabilities.
  • ASD was particularly prevalent in children with ONH, ROP, LCA, and microphthalmia/anophthalmia.

Conclusions:

  • Isolated blindness is uncommon in recent birth cohorts; multidisabilities are prevalent.
  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) shows a notable association with specific causes of blindness.
  • Support systems for families and schools must acknowledge the heterogeneity and high rate of co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorders, especially ID and ASD.
Abstract

Keywords:
autism spectrum disorderblindnesscauseschildrendevelopmental outcomesintellectual disability

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