Autistic-like Features in Visually Impaired Children

Description

Citation:

Molinaro A, Micheletti S, Rossi A, Gitti F, Galli J, Merabet LB, Fazzi EM. Autistic-Like Features in Visually Impaired Children: A Review of Literature and Directions for Future Research. Brain Sci. 2020 Aug 1;10(8):507. doi: 10.3390/brainsci10080507. PMID: 32752249; PMCID: PMC7465914.

Summary of the article:

The relationship between Visual Impairment (VI) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is highly controversial.

This Systematic Review attempts to summarise and clarify the available literature on this topic, distinguishing between the common causes of these conditions and the impact of limited visual experiences on early development of behaviour, language, and social communication skills. The development of joint attention, language and communication, stereotypical behaviours, and theory of mind are compared in children with ASD, VI and typically developing children. Lastly, the article reviews ASD diagnostic tools and their dependence on visual skills and highlights some modifications that should be made when assessing for ASD in children with VI.