Visual Rehabilitation in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Visual Disorders

NCT07644468 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 202311042RINB
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 9
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often have visual problems that add difficulty to social interaction and communication. This study implemented a visual rehabilitation program to improve visual function and functional use of visual information in children with ASD and co-occurring visual difficulties. After the program, children showed improved visual abilities, eye contact, and attention during shared activities. The study also confirmed that the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS) is a practical and reliable tool for tracking these improvements. Overall, the results suggest that helping children with ASD improve their vision may also support their social and communication development.

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Visual Rehabilitation; Vision; Social Communication

Keywords

autism spectrum disorder; social communication; vision; visual function; visual rehabilitation; visual difficulty; reliability

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Visual Function Battery for Children with Special Needs, VFB-CSN

  The VFB-CSN is a standardized observable measure of visual function for children with special needs. The VFB-CSN can assess eight visual functions: Visual Reflex, Ocular Muscle Balance/ Imbalance, Visual Acuity, Oculomotor, Visual Field, Contrast Sensitivity, Color/ Form Vision, and Visual Attention. The highest possible total score is 60. The VFB-CSN has shown excellent inter-rater reliability and good ecological validity.

  Measured at baseline (within 2 weeks prior to the intervention) and post-intervention (within 2 weeks after completion of the program).

• Early Social Communication Scales, ESCS

  The ESCS is a standardized video coding measure of social communication skills for children with a language developmental age between 8 and 30 months. The ESCS can assess three domains: Joint Attention, Behavioral Request, and Social Interaction. The ESCS has no total score or scoring ceiling; most of the behaviors are documented as counts. The ESCS demonstrates excellent to moderate inter-rater reliability and good construct validity.

  Measured at baseline (within 2 weeks prior to the intervention) and post-intervention (within 2 weeks after completion of the program).

Study Arms (1)

Visual Rehabilitation

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants received an individualized visual rehabilitation program that included PowerPoint-based visual training games and visual perceptual activities. The program was delivered in weekly one-on-one sessions of 1 hr over a 10-week period.

Behavioral: Visual Rehabilitation

Interventions

Visual Rehabilitation BEHAVIORAL

Participants received an individualized visual rehabilitation program that included PowerPoint-based visual training games and visual perceptual activities. The program was delivered in weekly one-on-one sessions of 1 hr over a 10-week period.

Visual Rehabilitation

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 1 Year - 8 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Language developmental age between 12 and 36 months
• Diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of ASD based on DSM criteria
• Best-corrected binocular visual acuity between 0.1 and 0.5, or other marked intra-individual variability across visual perceptual tasks
• Ability to follow at least two-step commands in daily activities

You may not qualify if:

• Moderate to severe intellectual disability

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Taiwan University Hospital: lead

Study Sites (1)

National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, School of Occupational Therapy

Taipei, 100, Taiwan

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Communication; Vision Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Behavior; Sensation Disorders; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Eye Diseases; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 8, 2026
• First Posted: June 12, 2026
• Study Start: March 18, 2024
• Primary Completion: June 3, 2025
• Study Completion: October 31, 2025
• Last Updated: June 12, 2026

Record last verified: 2024-01

Locations

TW (1)