The Effect of Neuropsychological Interventions by Optical Stimulus System on Color Recognitions in Children with Low Vision: A Single Subject Study

Abstract

Background: Optic nerve lesions cause a group of visual impairment and especially low vision. Children with this defect have problems such as social isolation, lack of commitment to activities, increased dependence on others, and delayed cognitive development. In this research, we aimed to study the effect of neuropsychological interventions by using an optical stimulus system (OSS) (in the other words, applying special rehabilitation exercises) on visual performance, perception and recognition of light and color in children with low vision. Methods: In this study, visual acuity assessment was performed in response to the exercises based on the dependent variables of the single subject method on 5 children with low vision. First, 4 sessions of their baseline were measured, and then, 8 intervention session was conducted with the optical stimulator of rehabilitation exercises. Follow-up sessions were conducted to assess the effect of the exercises, and the mean of the percentage of non-overlapping data (PND) and percentage of overlapping data (POD) for variables were used to evaluate the effect of the exercises. Findings: Mean POD and PND scores for all subjects and for all variables were 92.5% and 7.5%, respectively. The average scores in the intervention phase increased by 14.84%, and the scores in the follow-up period were 13.73% higher than the baseline. Conclusion: The results showed improvement in the performance of all 5 children in the perception and recognition of light and color.

Keywords

• intervention study
• neuropsychology
• visual acuity
• optical system
• visual stimulation
• color
• perception