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Tero Toivanen

Autism Research Blog: Translating Autism: Vision problems in autism: Reduced convergence? - 0 views

www.translatingautism.com/...roblems-in-autism-reduced.html

autism vision problems reduced convergence

shared by Tero Toivanen on 06 Mar 09 - No Cached
  • The authors found that 11% of the typically developing children and 31% of the ASD had a documented visual impairment (myopia, astigmatism, etc). This difference was statistically significant. That is, children with ASD were significantly more likely than typically developing children to have these conditions. Children with autism also displayed significantly poorer visual acuity (but within normal limits), and lower convergence. Convergence refers to the process by which the eyes move towards each other to maintain focus on approaching or close-range objects.
  • The findings of reduced visual acuity in children with autism when compared to typically developing children contradict previous studies that have shown enhanced visual acuity in autism. This brings us to a major limitation of this study that was correctly noted by the authors.
  • Limited convergence therefore would be associated with more limited depth perception. I find this intriguing because the neuropsychological profile of children with high functioning autism is often very similar to what is observed in kids with non-verbal learning disabilities (including relative weaknesses in motor-visual functioning). In addition, many parents with children with ASD report that their kids have trouble with sports and other physical activities. I thus wonder how much the reduced convergence observed in ASD may affect the motor-visual functioning in autism.
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  • Clinically, I was also intrigued by the high rates of vision problems found among the ASD group. Although, as I mentioned, this may be due to a self-selection of the parents who agreed to participate, this is consistent with data suggesting that children with developmental disorders are more likely to have visual problems than typically developing children
  • Tero Toivanen on 06 Mar 09
     
    Analysis of visual functioning in children with autism suggests impairment in visual convergence. A brief review of: Elizabeth Milne, Helen Griffiths, David Buckley, Alison Scope (2009). Vision in Children and Adolescents with Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Evidence for Reduced Convergence Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders DOI: 10.1007/s10803-009-0705-8
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