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Functional and cognitive vision assessment in children with autism spectrum disorder

Sahithya Bhaskaran1, Linda Lawrence2, Jeyaseeli Flora1

  • 1Aravind Eye Care System, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

Journal of AAPOS : the Official Publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus
|July 23, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have cognitive visual impairments, regardless of symptom severity. Standard eye exams are insufficient; specialized assessments reveal these vision challenges in ASD.

Area of Science:

  • Ophthalmology
  • Neurodevelopmental Disorders
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition.
  • Standard ophthalmic examinations may not fully capture visual processing deficits in children with ASD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate functional vision in children with ASD using a cognitive visual function battery.
  • To compare cognitive visual function with standard ophthalmic findings in this population.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 30 children with ASD was recruited from a specialized school.
  • Participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmic evaluations and cognitive vision assessments.
  • Cognitive visual function was assessed using a specialized battery of tests.

Main Results:

  • Most children demonstrated normal color vision, contrast sensitivity, shape discrimination, and directionality perception.
  • Abnormalities were frequently observed in ocular pursuits, saccades, and size difference recognition.
  • Difficulties were noted in identifying optical illusions, differentiating emotions, and visual closure.

Conclusions:

  • All children with ASD in the study exhibited some form of cognitive visual impairment.
  • These visual impairments were present irrespective of the severity of autism spectrum disorder.
  • Cognitive vision assessment is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of visual function in ASD.
Abstract

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