Visual System in Autism

Smelena · Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 5:06 am Post subject:

Hello,

I'm on a mailing list for a parent support group. The following came in an e-mail.

I don't know whether it's accurate or not. I thought I'd ask the real experts - WrongPlanet members - for an opinion.

So what does everyone think?

I was given a reference for Dr Mary Megson, US Developmental Paediatrician.

She has the following to suggest regarding the Visual System of Children with Autism: http://www.megson.com/readings/BiologicalBasis.pdf

VISUAL SYSTEM

Probably one of the most profound things I have discovered is how the children “see” their world. Once you understand it, then you begin to realize that the way the children look at you and the world around them makes perfect sense, given the way their eyes function. These children live in a “magic-eye puzzle:” you’ve probably seen these puzzles at the mall. You stare at a cluster of shapes and colors, and eventually an image will pop out. These children, because of the blocked pathway affecting their vision, can’t see like most people do. The blocked pathway has caused the rods in their eyes to not function correctly. They must compensate for the rod dysfuction the best way they can. They “see” the world around them as though it’s in a 3-D box. They have such a limited visual field that everything that doesn’t fit in their box blurs and is perceived as color and shape alone. And, the most incredible thing is that they actually have to piece together each “box” that they see in order to see a complete shape. So, in order to live and perceive the world outside of their limited “box,” they have to organize it according to color and shape. That’s why the children “melt down” when objects are moved or when you clean up their lines or piles of toys sorted by color. They have to work so hard to perceive their world that it frightens and overwhelms them when the world as they are able to see it changes. It also explains why the children are known to organize things so carefully. It’s the only way they can “see” their world. This is a visual perception problem! When you say, “look at me, look at me,” they really are. But they have to look at you sideways. They are turning their eye so that the light reflected from your face lands on the edge of the fovea or the lateral retina where they have some rod function. The fovea is the area in the back of the eye where the cones are closest together. That’s the only way they can “see” you. When you force their pupil to appear to focus on you, you are actually forcing them to look away from you because their “best vision” is off to one side. On the fish liver oil, their rod function improves. One of the first effects we see is the disappearance of the “sideways glance” that the children are known for. For too many years, parents have been told that there were psychological reasons for why their children wouldn’t look at them. The old theory of a cold, unloving parent was probably developed due to this observation. But the truth is, the sideways glance is a biological adaptation, given how their vision pathway has been blocked. The body always tries to adapt the best way it can. So, this way of looking at things is “normal” for the child with autism. As rod function improves, they look right at you and can really see you! They move back from and become less interested in TV and videos. Until “the box” expands, the only place they always hear the right language for what they are looking at is to set “the box” (i.e. TV, video, computer, Lovas/ABA therapy program). As vision improves, their ability to see and hear the right language for what they are looking at improves. Donna Williams, an autistic adult, describes this as “thinking in monochannel.” If what you are hearing is not related to what is clearly seen (i.e. in the box), only one input can be processed at a time. They can listen or they can look, but only one at a time. They can’t do both.
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To see my family and my advocacy efforts: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=JR03uSFQf6Y and http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=7-ZBxFYFvuA