Hidden visual capabilities in mentally retarded subjects diagnosed as deaf—blind

The visual acuity of twelve multi-handicapped, mentally retarded subjects, diagnosed as deaf-blind, was measured on two occasions with the Teller Acuity Cards (TAC). Eight subjects scored above the criterion for legally blind and the results of six of these indicated various degrees of poor to appro...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Vision research (Oxford) 1997-10, Vol.37 (20), p.2931-2935
Main Authors: Jacobsen, Karl, Magnussen, Svein, Smith, Lars
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Biological and medical sciences
Blindness - complications
Blindness - physiopathology
Child, Preschool
Deaf-blind
Deafness - complications
Deafness - physiopathology
Face
Female
Form Perception
Humans
Intellectual deficiency
Intellectual Disability - complications
Intellectual Disability - physiopathology
Male
Medical sciences
Mental retardation
Preferential looking
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Vision Tests
Visual acuity
Visual Acuity - physiology
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Summary:The visual acuity of twelve multi-handicapped, mentally retarded subjects, diagnosed as deaf-blind, was measured on two occasions with the Teller Acuity Cards (TAC). Eight subjects scored above the criterion for legally blind and the results of six of these indicated various degrees of poor to approaching-normal eyesight. To evaluate high-level vision four subjects were tested with the Fagan Test, assessing visual recognition memory for faces subsequent to familiarization with the preferential looking technique. The results for three subjects showed evidence for perceptual recognition. It is concluded that TAC combined with the Fagan Test may detect perceptual capacities unnoticed by clinical observation.
ISSN:0042-6989
1878-5646
DOI:10.1016/S0042-6989(97)00098-9