Features of Autism in Children with Visual Impairments: A Brief Report
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Children with visual impairments (VI) display challenges in social interaction, may have elevated repetitive behaviors, and sensory features similar to children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASD is frequently diagnosed comorbidly in children with VI, making it important for educators to better understand the behavioral similarities and differences between ASD and VI. For this study, the researchers compared 27 children with VI between the ages of 5 and 12 with 177 children with ASD using parent reports of ASD symptomology. Statistical means comparisons were conducted between these two groups on items related to social communication, repetitive behaviors and sensory features. Results: The children with VI displayed similar overall levels of autism symptoms but had better social interaction skills and less behavior and sensory problems. This pilot investigation may help educators better understand the unique needs of children with visual impairments and develop more targeted supports for children with VI who exhibit sensory differences or social communication impairments. Future research should include observational assessments and validated measures.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
The authors retain copyright and permit the journal the copyright of first publication
Articles, once having passed the review process and accepted for publication in the CDMH Journal, are copyrighted under the CDMH Journal, Department of Mental Health, Ministry of Public Health. Please be aware distribution of CDMH Journal content for commercial purposes without permission is expressly prohibited. However, distribution with intent to educate, advocate, or spread awareness within the general public and research communities is permitted and encouraged with the understanding that the CDMH Journal Editorial Board do not hold jurisdiction or liability for any accompanying comments, text, or information from third parties, either in favor for or against the original article’s assertions, conclusions, methodology, or content.
References
Absoud, M., Parr, J. R., Salt, A., & Dale, N. (2011).
Developing a schedule to identify social communication
difficulties and autism spectrum disorder in young
children with visual impairment. Developmental
Medicine & Child Neurology, 53(3), 285–288.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and
statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.).
Banda, D., Griffin-Shirley, N., Okungu, P., Ogot, O., &
Meeks, M. (2014). A review of intervention studies
conducted with individuals with autism and sensory
impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment &
Blindness, 108(4), 299-309.
Bellomo, N. M. (2016). Increasing the augmentative and
alternative communication knowledge and selfefficacy
of parents of children with autism spectrum
disorders using multimedia training materials.
Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
Global: The Humanities and Social Sciences
Collection. (1886462133)
Bridgmon, K. D., & Martin, W. E. (2012). Quantitative
and statistical research methods: From hypothesis to
results. John Wiley & Sons.
Butler, M., Katayama, A., Schindling, C., & Dials, K.
(2018). Assessing resilience in students who are deaf
or blind: Supplementing standardized achievement
testing. The Journal of Educational Research, 111(3),
-362.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2020) Data
& Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder. Retrieved
March 25, from https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/
data.html
Cuevas, I., Plaza, P., Rombaux, P., De Volder, A. G., &
Renier, L. (2009). Odour discrimination and
identification are improved in early blindness.
Neuropsychologia, 47, 3079–3083.
Fazzi, E., Lanners, J., Danova, S., Ferrarri-Ginevra,
O., Gheza, C., Luparia, A., ... & Lanzi, G. (1999).
Stereotyped behaviours in blind children. Brain and
Development, 21(8), 522-528.
Fazzi, E., Micheletti, S., Galli, J., Rossi, A., Gitti, F., &
Molinaro, A. (2019). Autism in Children With
Cerebral and Peripheral Visual Impairment: Fact or
Artifact?. Seminars in pediatric neurology, 31, 57–67.
Ghaderi, S., Hashemi, H., Jafarzadehpur, E., Yekta, A.,
Ostadimoghaddam, H., Mirzajani, A., & Khabazk
hoob, M. (2018). The prevalence and causes of visual
impairment in seven-year-old children. Clinical and
Experimental Optometry, 101(3), 380-385.
Golshan, F., Soltani, A., & Afarinesh, M. R. (2019). The
study of executive function domains in children with
high-functioning autism. Learning and Motivation, 67,
Gordon-Pershey, M., Zeszut, S., & Brouwer, K. (2019).
A survey of speech sound productions in children
CDMH 35
Features of Autism in School Age Children Vol. 10 No. 2 July - December 2022 (27-35)
International Journal of Child
Development and Mental Health
with visual impairments. Communication Disorders
Quarterly, 40(4), 206–219.
Haebig, E., Sterling, A., Pollan, A., & Schroeder, S. (2014).
A comparison of the ADI-R and CARS2-QPC in its
application to individuals with Fragile X syndrome.
Poster presented at the meeting of the Gatlinburg
Conference on Research and Theory in Intellectual and
Developmental Disabilities, Chicago, IL. Retrieved
from https://riddll.waisman.wisc.edu/wp-content/
uploads/sites/152/2017/04/2014-AComparisonADI
-RAndCARS2-QPCApplicationIndividualsFXS.pdf
Hay, I., Dutton, G., Biggar, S., Ibrahim, H., & Assheton,
D. (2020). Exploratory study of dorsal visual stream
dysfunction in autism; A case series. Research in
Autism Spectrum Disorders, 69, 101456.
Hobson, R. P., & Lee, A. (2010). Reversible autism among
congenitally blind children? A controlled follow-up
study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,
(11), 1235-1241.
Joanes, D. N., & Gill, C. A. (1998). Comparing measures
of sample skewness and kurtosis. Journal of the Royal
Statistical Society: Series D (The Statistician), 47(1),
-189.
Jure, R., Pogonza, R., & Rapin, I. (2016). Autism Spectrum
Disorders (ASD) in blind children: very high
prevalence, potentially better outlook. Journal of
Autism and Developmental Disorders, 46(3), 749-759
Li, A. (2009). Identification and intervention for students
who are visually impaired and who have autism
spectrum disorders. Teaching Exceptional Children,
(4), 22-32.
Li, N. (2012). Preliminary validation of the Childhood
Autism Rating Scale-questionnaire for parents or
caregivers (CARS2-QPC) and the Gilliam Autism
Rating Scale (GARS-2) with a Chinese-speaking
population.
Minter, M., Hobson, R. P., & Bishop, M. (1998). Congenital
visual impairment and ‘theory of mind’. British
Journal of Developmental Psychology, 16(2), 183-196.
Mukaddes, N., Kilincaslan, A., Kucukyazici, G.,
Sevketoglu, T., & Tuncer, S. (2007). Autism in visually
impaired individuals. Psychiatry and Clinical
Neurosciences, 61(1), 39-44.
Pring, L., & Ockelford, A. (2005). Children with septo-optic
dysplasia-musical interests, abilities and provision: the
results of a parental survey. British Journal of Visual
Impairment, 23(2), 58-66.
Probst, K., & Walker, V. (2017). Using the system of least
prompts to teach personal hygiene skills to a high
school student with comorbid visual impairment
and autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Visual
Impairment & Blindness, 111(6), 511-526.
Ramsamy-Iranah, S., Maguire, M., Gardner, J., Rosunee,
S., & Kistamah, N. (2016). A comparison of three
materials used for tactile symbols to communicate
colour to children and young people with visual
impairments. The British Journal of Visual Impairment,
(1), 54-71.
Rutter, M., Le Couteur, A., & Lord, C. (2003). Autism
diagnostic interview-revised. Los Angeles, CA:
Western Psychological Services, 29(2003), 30.
Schlosser, R. W., Shane, H. C., Allen, A. A., Benz, A.,
Cullen, J., O’Neill, L., ... & Pasupathy, R. (2020).
Coaching a school team to implement the Visual
Immersion System™ in a classroom for children with
autism spectrum disorder: A mixed-methods proof
-of-concept study. Advances in Neurodevelopmental
Disorders, 4(4), 447-470.
Schoonjans, F. (2019). MedCalc’s Comparison of
proportions calculator. MedCalc. MedCalc Software.
October, 30, 2019.
Schopler, E., Van Bourgondien, M., Wellman, J., & Love,
S. (2010). Childhood autism rating scale—Second
edition (CARS2): Manual. Los Angeles: Western
Psychological Services.
Tadic´, V., Pring, L., & Dale, N. (2009). Attentional
processes in young children with congenital visual
impairment. British Journal of Developmental
Psychology, 27, 311–330.
Williams, M. E., Fink, C., Zamora, I., & Borchert, M.
(2014). Autism assessment in children with optic
nerve hypoplasia and other vision impairments.
Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 56(1),
-72.