Abstract
Purpose: This review presents the evidence on the prevalence of visual impairments in children and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and the similar behavioural traits associated with both visual impairment and autism. Method: A systematic literature review was conducted using online databases. Results: Seven studies explored the incidence of visual impairments in people with ASD and found a higher incidence of strabismus (squint) (8.3%) than in a comparable child population (1.5 to 5.3%). Eleven studies identified behavioural traits common to both autistic and visually impaired populations. The majority were small-scale screening studies using varied methodologies, constituting an emerging field of research. Conclusion: Further large-scale, multicentre studies are required to accurately identify prevalence rates of ophthalmic conditions in people with ASD. There is a small but evolving evidence base that establishes behavioural and linguistic traits common to both visual impairment and autism.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 118-131 |
| Journal | Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |
| Volume | 4 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 05 Jan 2017 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Early online date - 05 Jan 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- ASD
- Autism
- Sight loss
- Visual impairment
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
Access to Document
- Autism and Visual Impairment: a Review of the Literature
Copyright 2017 the authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.