Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Aug 12.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-024-06509-w. Online ahead of print.

Testing the Hard to Test: A Pilot Study Examining the Role of Questionnaires in Eliciting Visual Behaviours in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Tania Constable  1 , Rachel Fiona Pilling  2 , J Margaret Woodhouse  3
Affiliations

Testing the Hard to Test: A Pilot Study Examining the Role of Questionnaires in Eliciting Visual Behaviours in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

Tania Constable et al. J Autism Dev Disord. .

Abstract

Purpose: There is a higher prevalence of visual problems in children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) compared with the neuro-typical population. Issues relating to visual perception can be evident as atypical visual behaviours (ViBes). The aim of the study was to compare findings of parents and eye health professionals using questionnaires to describe visual function in young children with ASD.

Materials and methods: Parents/Caregivers of patients diagnosed with ASD attending routine hospital eye clinics were invited to participate. A questionnaire to draw out presence of ViBes was completed by the parent prior to attending clinic. The clinician independently completed the same questionnaire and undertook a clinical ocular assessment.

Results: 32 children were recruited (mean age 7 years, range 4-11). Most caregivers indicated they had noted at least one atypical ViBe (97%, median 5, range 0-8). Parental-reported ViBe8 scores were higher than clinician-reported scores (p = 0.04). The most commonly reported ViBes by both groups related to use of vision at the same time as other senses, and atypical fixation (e.g. looking away during speech or side viewing). There was weak correlation between visual acuity and parental ViBe8 score (rho = 0.364) and no correlation between refractive error and parental ViBe8 score (rho = 0.047).

Conclusion: Clinicians were likely to under-report atypical visual function compared with parent. Refraction and visual acuity alone do not detect all visual problems in children with ASD. A Visual Behaviour (ViBe) questionnaire offers a structured approach and shared language to allow documentation of functional visual assessment for both parents, carers, and educational professionals. Use of the ViBe questionnaire may promote understanding between caregiver and professional and provide a baseline for visual behaviours.

Keywords: Autistic Spectrum Disorder; Children; Optometry; Screening; Vision.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Bhaskaran, S., Lawrence, L., Flora, J., & Perumalsamy, V. (2018). Functional and cognitive visual assessment in children with autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Aapos : The Official Publication of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus / American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, 22(4), 304–308. - DOI
    1. Chiarotti, F., & Venerosi, A. (2020). Epidemiology of autism spectrum disorders: A review of worldwide prevalences since 2014. Brain Sciences, 10(5), 274. - DOI - PubMed - PMC
    1. Chokron, S., Kovarski, K., Zalla, T., & Dutton, D. N. (2020). The inter-relationships between cerebral visual impairment, autism, and intellectual disability. Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews, 114, 201–210. - DOI
    1. DeRamus, T., Black, B. S., Pennick, M. R., & Kana, R. K. (2014). Enhanced parietal cortex activation during location detection in children with autism. Journal of Neurodevelopemental Disorders, 6(37). https://doi.org/10.1186/1866-1955-6-37
    1. European Union. Autism spectrum disorders in the E.U (ASDEU) (2018). https://www.autismeurope.org/programme-asdeu-autism-spectrum-disorders-i... . (accessed 11 November 2022).

LinkOut - more resources