Visual Rehabilitation in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Visual Disorders

June 8, 2026 updated by: National Taiwan University Hospital

The Effects of Visual Rehabilitation on Social Interaction and Communication for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders and Visual Disorders

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.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

9

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Taipei, Taiwan, 100
        • National Taiwan University, College of Medicine, School of Occupational Therapy

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 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

Exclusion Criteria:

• Moderate to severe intellectual disability

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Visual Rehabilitation
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
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.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Visual Function Battery for Children with Special Needs, VFB-CSN
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (within 2 weeks prior to the intervention) and post-intervention (within 2 weeks after completion of the program).
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
Time Frame: Measured at baseline (within 2 weeks prior to the intervention) and post-intervention (within 2 weeks after completion of the program).
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).

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Taiwan University Hospital

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 18, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 3, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

October 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 8, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 8, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 8, 2026

Last Verified

January 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 202311042RINB

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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