Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Is there a link between Autism and Amblyopia?

As I researched more and more about Amblyopia one of the facts that stood out to me right away is that it is a neurological disorder moreso than a vision/eye issue. Children aren't born with a lazy eye, it develops.

Immediately I wondered if there is any link between Amblyopia and Autism, because my son is on the autism spectrum.

Heading to the University of Google I found several links and facts of interest.
  • In a 1999 study by Dr. Melvin Kaplan, 17 of 34 children with autism had a strabismus.
Autism, Strabismus and Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)
Vision Problems associated with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Developmental Delay Resources: Strabismus and Amblyopia


Read more about our adventures with autism, the gluten & casein free diet, and more at my blog The Bon Bon Gazette.
Posted by hellokittiemama at 11:38 PM
Labels: ,

1 comments:

  1. Very interesting. Kicked my reference librarian instincts into high gear. There are quite a few more studies in PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/) if you search for Autism and Amblyopia, or Autism and Strabismus. From a 2008 review of vision and autism, "other than a *higher than expected incidence of strabismus and oculomotor deficiencies,* refractive and binocular vision status of people with autism have been reported to be within normal ranges." [emphasis mine](JN Trachtman, "Background and history of autism in relation to vision care." Optometry, 2008, Jul;79(7):391-6. abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18577496?ordinalpos=2&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum)
    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)