This article reports on a study of the methods that 21 ophthalmologists used to assess the visual acuity of children with multiple impairments and the difficulties they encountered. Additional means of assessing visual function and alternative means of communicating the results are suggested. (Author/DB)

Background: The prevalence of visual impairments in people with severe and profound multiple disabilities (SPMD) is the subject of considerable debate and is difficult to assess. Methods: In a typical Dutch care organization, all clients with SPMD (n = 76) participated in the study and specific instruments adapted to these clients (requiring a…

Techniques used by the Special Visual Assessment Clinic for the Handicapped at the University of California-Berkeley School of Optometry are designed to serve handicapped children and adults generally considered "difficult to assess." This article describes the clinic's assessment goals, clientele, and methods for assessing visual ability and…

This study found that, of 18 children with severe visual and multiple impairments assessed using the Acuity Card Procedure (originally developed for assessing the visual acuity of infants), 42 percent responded. A similar group received a simple instructional intervention prior to testing and that group's response rate was 85 percent. (Author/DB)

The visual acuity of 8 children, aged 2-7, with low vision and multiple handicaps was effectively tested using the Teller Acuity Cards and a preferential-looking procedure with operant modification. This inexpensive procedure was found to be suitable for at-home testing by itinerant vision specialists in developing countries or rural areas. (DB)

This article describes addition of a "learn a routine" procedure to functional visual assessments of children with severe neurological and physical disabilities. The procedure capitalizes on the child's interest of the moment and provides information on the child's patterns of responses, ability to accommodate to variations of a stimulus, and…

Vision assessment in multiply impaired children (ages 3-19, n=50) was studied by evaluating questionnaires completed by the psychological services responsible for determining their educational requirements. Relatively few conducted assessments of visual functioning but chose instead to determine level of visual impairment from medical,…