Evaluation of the Parsons Visual Acuity Test in screening exceptional children

The Parsons Visual Acuity Test (PVAT) is a non-verbal picture based visual acuity test designed for the difficult-to-test preschool child, school age child and adult with handicapping conditions. It is designed primarily for vision screening of the exceptional child and adult with special needs. Since visual acuity measures are quite important in these populations, a comparative study between the PVAT and standard Snellen acuity were designed and completed. There was no significant difference in acuity measures at near, however, the validity of the distance PVAT visual acuity measure was not supported in this study. Implications of the findings and cautions for the use of this test in screening and clinical situations for exceptional children and adults are discussed.