Journal Article

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Blind Children: Very High Prevalence, Potentially Better Outlook

Jure, Rubin, Rapin, Isabelle, Pogonza, Ramón

2016

Overview

Autism spectrum disorders affected 19 of 38 unselected children at a school for the blind in Cordoba, Argentina. Autism was linked to total congenital blindness, not blindness’ etiology, acquired or incomplete blindness, sex, overt brain damage, or socioeconomic status. Autism “recovery,” had occurred in 4 verbal children. Congenital blindness causes profoundly deviant sensory experience and massive reorganization of brain connectivity. Its ≥30 times greater prevalence than in sighted children suggests a distinct pathogenesis. Unawareness of autism’s high prevalence in blind individuals includes blindness’ rarity, misunderstanding of autism as “disease” rather than dimensional behavioral diagnosis, reluctance to diagnose it in blind children, and ignorance of its potentially more favorable outcome. Future investigation may suggest interventions to prevent or mitigate it.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Academic Ability / Adolescent / Argentina / Autism / Autism Spectrum Disorder - epidemiology / Autism Spectrum Disorders / Autistic children / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Blind children / Blindness / Blindness - congenital / Blindness - epidemiology / Brain / Brain damage / Brain injury / Brain research / Care and treatment / Child / Child and School Psychology / Child, Preschool / Children / Children & youth / Children, Blind / Comorbidity / Congenital diseases / Congenital Impairments / Deafness / Developmental disabilities / Disability Identification / Disorders / Epidemiology / Etiology / Foreign Countries / Health aspects / Humans / Ignorance / Incidence / Intervention / Interviews / Male / Medical diagnosis / Medicine / Mental Disorders / Miscommunication / Neural networks / Neurological Impairments / Neurology / Neurosciences / Original Paper / Pediatrics / Pervasive Developmental Disorders / Prevalence / Psychology / Public Health / Recovery / Regression (Statistics) / Reorganization / Risk Factors / Sensory Experience / Severely / Social Behavior / Socioeconomic factors / Socioeconomic status / Spain - epidemiology / Translation / Visual Impairments