Brief Report: Vision in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: What Should Clinicians Expect?

Anomalous visual processing has been described in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but relatively few studies have profiled visual acuity (VA) in this population. The present study describes presenting VA in children with ASD (n = 113) compared to typically developing controls (n = 206) and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in a sub-group of children with ASD (n = 29). There was no statistically significant difference in presenting VA between groups (z = −1.75, p = 0.08); ASD group median VA (interquartile range, IQR) −0.05 logMAR (IQR: −0.125 to 0.025 logMAR) and typically developing control group −0.075 logMAR (IQR: −0.150 to −0.025 logMAR). Median BCVA was −0.175 logMAR (IQR: −0.200 to −0.125 logMAR) for the ASD sub-group. Clinicians should not anticipate reduced VA when assessing children with ASD.