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Brief Report: Vision in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: What Should Clinicians Expect?

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Abstract

Anomalous visual processing has been described in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but relatively few studies have profiled visual acuity (VA) in this population. The present study describes presenting VA in children with ASD (n = 113) compared to typically developing controls (n = 206) and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in a sub-group of children with ASD (n = 29). There was no statistically significant difference in presenting VA between groups (z = −1.75, p = 0.08); ASD group median VA (interquartile range, IQR) −0.05 logMAR (IQR: −0.125 to 0.025 logMAR) and typically developing control group −0.075 logMAR (IQR: −0.150 to −0.025 logMAR). Median BCVA was −0.175 logMAR (IQR: −0.200 to −0.125 logMAR) for the ASD sub-group. Clinicians should not anticipate reduced VA when assessing children with ASD.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Northern Ireland Health and Social Care Research and Development for Northern Ireland (EAT/4197/09). We would like to thank Dr Khan for assistance with recruitment, Dr Lesley Doyle and Dr Sara McCullough for assistance with data collection and Mrs Clare Stevens and Mrs Joy Peters for providing test facilities. We are grateful to all participants and schools who consented to involvement in the study including Bangor Central Primary School, Belmont House, Castle Gardens Primary School, Foyleview School, Knockavoe School, Londonderry Primary School, Loretto College, Strangford College and Victoria Primary School. This work was previously presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Meeting (Seattle, USA, 2013).

Conflict of interest

None of the authors have any conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vision Science Research Group, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK

    Pamela M. Anketell, Kathryn J. Saunders & Julie-Anne Little

  2. Orthoptic Department, Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Grosvenor Road, Belfast, BT12 6BA, Northern Ireland, UK

    Pamela M. Anketell

  3. School of Psychology, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine, BT52 1SA, Northern Ireland, UK

    Stephen M. Gallagher

  4. Department of Paediatrics, Northern Health and Social Care Trust, Bush Road, Antrim, BT41 2RL, Northern Ireland, UK

    Clare Bailey

Authors
  1. Pamela M. Anketell
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  2. Kathryn J. Saunders
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  3. Stephen M. Gallagher
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  4. Clare Bailey
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  5. Julie-Anne Little
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pamela M. Anketell.

Additional information

At the time of research Pamela Anketell was based at the Vision Science Research Group, University of Ulster, Coleraine, Northern Ireland. At time of submission Pamela Anketell is based at the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Grosvenor Road, Belfast BT12 6BA.

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Anketell, P.M., Saunders, K.J., Gallagher, S.M. et al. Brief Report: Vision in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: What Should Clinicians Expect?. J Autism Dev Disord 45, 3041–3047 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2431-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-015-2431-8

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