Visual impairment in persons with intellectual disability

Abstract

Vision is one of the most important sensory modalities for receiving information about the world and has an important role in child development. Visual impairment is a significant obstacle for optimal everyday functioning of a person and for achieving a satisfactory level of quality of life as well. Unrecognized visual difficulties can negatively affect the development, social behavior, and learning of children with intellectual disability (ID), which means that early visual assessment in children from this population, is of a great significance. The results of different studies suggest that most children and adults with ID have vision problems and that those problems are of a greater degree than in general population. Some authors believe that people with ID should be observed as persons with visual impairment, until proven otherwise. When it comes to assessing visual functions in people with ID, the assessment of distant visual acuity is the most common. However, it is also very important to conduct a detailed assessment which (among else) includes observing visual behavior over time. In cases when it is not possible to apply the same tests as in the general population, adapted tests which include specific needs of person with ID are used. The knowledge about the impact of multiple disabilities on visual functions, functional vision and characteristics of visual functioning ensures timely reaction of professionals and prevention of secondary developmental difficulties.

Keywords

• visual impairment
• intellectual disability
• multiple disabilities