{"id":269,"date":"2020-03-11T09:46:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T09:46:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/wordpress\/?page_id=269"},"modified":"2022-01-27T12:08:59","modified_gmt":"2022-01-27T12:08:59","slug":"autism-vision","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-therapy-for-special-needs\/autism-vision\/","title":{"rendered":"Vision and Autism (ASD)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Visual problems can have a large impact on the life of a child with austism.<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Vision problems are common in children with ASD, but unfortunately these often go undiagnosed<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A recent study conducted in April 2018, called the Autism Prevalence Study, determined that 1 in 59 children are affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)\u2014 a higher prevalence reported among boys, with 1 in 37 as compared to 1 in 92 girls.<\/p>\n<p>Autism Spectrum Disorder is a range of childhood developmental conditions characterized by social, behavioral, and communication deficits.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Many individuals with ASD have problems with sensory integration.<\/b><\/li>\n<li><b>ASD can affect the child&#8217;s visual skills as well as other sensory-processing abilities.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Eye exams for children with autism<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>It is crucial for parents to understand that children with ASD need to have regular eye exams in order to assess their ocular health, as well as their vision acuity. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-for-school\/are-school-vision-screenings-effective\/\">A standard 20\/20 vision screening is insufficient.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Doctors also recommend that children with ASD have a functional visual evaluation in order to assess many other important aspects of the visual system, namely: eye movements, eye teaming, eye tracking, visual processing, visual-spatial judgment, and central\/peripheral vision.<\/p>\n<p>According to research, children with ASD present with a higher incidence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/a-guide-to-eye-turns\/strabismus-crossed-eyes\/strabismus-faqs\/\">strabismus<\/a> (eye turn) ranging from 21-50 percent prevalence, as compared to children without ASD.<b>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Autistic behaviors and vision problems<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Common autistic behaviors may seem unrelated to vision problems \u2014 though truthfully, many of the following behaviors actually present <i>as a result<\/i> of reduced vision or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/the-17-key-visual-skills\/\">visual skills.<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poor eye contact<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Looking beyond\/through objects<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Absence of reciprocal play<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extreme fear of heights or absence of appropriate fear of heights<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tracking moving objects accurately<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maintaining eye contact with people<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Eye alignment (eye turns)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keeping their eyes from wandering (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy-for-lazy-eye\/lazy-eye-faqs\/\">amblyopia\/lazy eye<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Light sensitivity<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Head turning (looking at objects from the side of the eyes)<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fleeting views or rolling eyes<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual stimming (flapping fingers in front of eyes)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If your child displays any of these vision problems <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">contact an eye doctor near you<\/a><\/strong> who has experience with vision therapy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-therapy-for-special-needs\/autism-vision\/outsmarting-autism\/\">Outsmarting Autism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"practice-search-widget\">\n\t\t<h3>Find an eye doctor for children near you<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t<form class=\"practice-search-form practice-search-form-widget\" action=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/results\/\" method=\"get\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"page\" class=\"practice-search-page\">\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_latitude\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"address_longitude\">\n\n\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"address\" class=\"practice-search-address\" placeholder=\"City, Surburb or Address\" value=\"\">\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"distance\" value=\"100\" class=\"practice-search-distance\">\n\n\t\t\n\n\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"practice-search-button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 19 19\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path fill-rule=\"evenodd\" clip-rule=\"evenodd\" d=\"M10.6796 0.130005C9.15708 0.130059 7.66615 0.5646 6.38198 1.38258C5.09781 2.20057 4.07373 3.36803 3.43004 4.74783C2.78634 6.12763 2.54976 7.66246 2.74808 9.17205C2.9464 10.6816 3.57139 12.1033 4.54964 13.27L0.729639 17.08C0.6364 17.1732 0.562439 17.2839 0.511979 17.4058C0.461519 17.5276 0.435547 17.6581 0.435547 17.79C0.435547 17.9219 0.461519 18.0524 0.511979 18.1743C0.562439 18.2961 0.6364 18.4068 0.729639 18.5C0.917942 18.6883 1.17334 18.7941 1.43964 18.7941C1.5715 18.7941 1.70207 18.7681 1.82389 18.7177C1.94571 18.6672 2.0564 18.5932 2.14964 18.5L5.99964 14.62C7.35406 15.6038 8.98566 16.1324 10.6596 16.13C12.7814 16.13 14.8162 15.2871 16.3165 13.7869C17.8168 12.2866 18.6596 10.2517 18.6596 8.13C18.6596 6.00827 17.8168 3.97344 16.3165 2.47315C14.8162 0.97286 12.7814 0.130005 10.6596 0.130005H10.6796ZM10.6796 14.13C9.49295 14.13 8.33291 13.7781 7.34622 13.1188C6.35952 12.4595 5.59049 11.5225 5.13636 10.4261C4.68224 9.32975 4.56342 8.12335 4.79493 6.95946C5.02644 5.79558 5.59788 4.72648 6.437 3.88736C7.27611 3.04825 8.34521 2.4768 9.5091 2.24529C10.673 2.01378 11.8794 2.1326 12.9757 2.58673C14.0721 3.04085 15.0092 3.80989 15.6685 4.79658C16.3277 5.78328 16.6796 6.94332 16.6796 8.13C16.6796 9.7213 16.0475 11.2474 14.9223 12.3726C13.7971 13.4979 12.2709 14.13 10.6796 14.13Z\" fill=\"#fff\"\/><\/svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\n\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"practice-search-use-my-location\">\n\t\t\tSearch near me\n\t\t<\/button>\n\n\n\t<\/form>\n\n\n\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<h2><b>Vision therapy for children with autism<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/vision-therapy\/what-is-vision-therapy\/\">Vision therapy<\/a> is a highly effective treatment method, designed to enhance visual skills and the neurological connections between the eyes and brain.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A vision therapy program for a child with ASD will facilitate improved visual processing, enabling them to understand their surroundings with greater certainty\u2014 and consequently improve associated behaviors such as anxiety, social skills, and verbal skills.<\/p>\n<p>Each therapy program is personalized to the needs of the child, and includes age-appropriate exercises and activities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Common vision therapy goals for children with ASD include the improvement of:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual-spatial organization<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Peripheral stability<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Central vision<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Efficient eye coordination<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual information processing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Prism lenses (yoked prisms or ambient prisms)<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Many times, vision problems, specifically visual-spatial misperceptions such as body\/objects\/people moving in space, can cause a child with ASD to feel anxious, confused, or distressed\u2014 resulting in certain behavioral responses, discussed above.<\/p>\n<p>Prism lenses have been created to help children with ASD to use their vision in a more effective and positive way. For example, prisms can create immediate improvements in posture, balance, and attention\u2014 significantly increasing the child\u2019s feelings of physical safety and comfort, while decreasing anxiety and sensory overload.<\/p>\n<p>The prism lenses can be worn daily or just for the duration of a vision therapy program, and typically facilitate significant improvements.<\/p>\n<h2><b>The goal of vision therapy for your child<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The goal of optometric care for children with ASD is to facilitate the performance of everyday tasks, and minimize the challenges that both you as the parent, and your child, face on a daily basis.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LEARN MORE:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-therapy-for-special-needs\/\">Vision\u00a0for Special Needs<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>If your child has autism, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/practice-search\/\">schedule a comprehensive eye exam<\/a> to enable a proper diagnosis of any visual difficulties.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Visual problems can have a large impact on the life of a child with austism (ASD). Vision problems are common in children with ASD, but unfortunately these often go undiagnosed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1256,"parent":1401,"menu_order":114,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-article.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[214,213,85,212,148,91,106,83],"class_list":["post-269","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-asd","tag-autism","tag-children","tag-down-syndrome","tag-eye-exams","tag-special-needs","tag-vision-problems","tag-vision-therapy"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vision and Autism (ASD) - Optometrists.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.optometrists.org\/childrens-vision\/vision-therapy-for-special-needs\/autism-vision\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vision and Autism (ASD) - Optometrists.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Visual problems can have a large impact on the life of a child with austism (ASD). 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