Raising an autistic child? Don’t let vision problems get in their way.
Vision Exams for Autistic Patients
Methods for evaluating the vision of autistic people will vary depending on individual levels of emotional and physical development. Testing is often done while the patient is asked to perform specific activities while wearing special lenses. For example, observations of the patient’s postural adaptations and compensations will be made as they sit, walk, stand, catch and throw a ball, etc. Such tests help to determine how the autistic person is seeing and how they can be helped.
Treatment to Improve Quality of Life:
After a comprehensive exam has identified whether vision problems are present, treatment can start. The goals of treatment may be to help the autistic patient to:
*organize visual space
*gain peripheral stability
*attend to and appreciate central vision
*gain more efficient eye coordination
*improve visual information processing.
Achieving these goals can help the autistic person to feel less overwhelmed by visual stimuli and to interact with the world more comfortably.
Depending on the results of testing, lenses to compensate for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism may be prescribed. Vision therapy activities can be used to stimulate general visual arousal, eye movements, and the central visual system. Many COVD doctors are experienced in examining and treating autistic people as well as other developmentally delayed or non-verbal individuals.
Information provided from www.covd.org
