Autism in Children With Cerebral and Peripheral Visual Impairment: Fact or Artifact?

The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and clinical characteristics of autism spectrum disorder in visually impaired children. In total, 273 participants, 214 with cerebral causes of vision impairment and 59 with peripheral causes, were assessed using multiple assessment methods and adapted for individuals with vision loss. We found that autism spectrum disorder was more prevalent in the visually impaired compared to general population, and that the prevalence varied according to the type of visual disorder (2.8% for cerebral and 8.4% for peripheral visual impairment). In subjects with cerebral visual impairment, the presence of autistic symptoms was consistent with the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. In children with peripheral visual impairment, certain symptoms related to visual loss overlapped with the clinical features of autism spectrum disorder, thus making clinical diagnosis more challenging. The development of assessment tools that take into account the type and level of visual impairment and validation testing in a larger population sample are needed in order to confirm these initial findings regarding the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in visually impaired children.