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Autism and visual impairment

Kibbykat

Hi my son was recently dxed after a 12 year fight, he's vi and has a shed load of other issues (hence why the dx took so long), of all his issues it's his behaviour that really holds him back, I believe he's pda bexcuse of the way he shuts down with demands). How do others cope when there is a complex mix of medical issues on top of asd? 

  • I believe there were asd signs before the vi, as a baby he cried every time he was in his rear facing car seat and sleep well he's never been good at that, 20 minute naps were the best I got, very different from his sisters. He didn't become vi until he was a toddler and then every thing was blamed on his sight loss, until now. He is only able to talk about him, all his non asd but vi peers can have conversations about sports, the weather, school. 

  • Former Member
    Former Member

    Is it actually possible that the VI caused the autism in this case? Most people with ASD are unable to interpret facial expressions and are effecively blind to all the non-verbal comms that a blind person can't see either.

    In a sense, the reason for the lack of emotional intelligence is irrelevant. We are in the same boat.

  • Sorry I corrected the title. It was because of the visual impairment that the asd wasn't diagnosed. 

  • I assume by vi you mean visually impaired. It is often not realised that you can be blind or visually impaired and have autism even though you might think loss of visual stimulus helped. You can also be deaf/hearing impaired with autism.

    Unfortunately I don't think the combination is that widely known, as you tend to get treated for difficulties due to visual impairment hiding autism. A lot of both deaf and blind people remain undiagnosed for comorbid autism.

    Many people have associated issues, dyslexia and adhd being commonest perhaps, along with depression and anxiety. Epilepsy also occurs, and dyspraxia, though there is a big overlap. PDA likewise has an overlap probably covered by the autism diagnosis.

    Good that you have raised it here because association of sight and hearing deficiency seldom gets much notice.