Eagle-Eyed Visual Acuity: An Experimental Investigation of Enhanced Perception in Autism
Received 23 March 2008; received in revised form 2 June 2008; accepted 14 June 2008. published online 24 July 2008.
Background
Anecdotal accounts of sensory hypersensitivity in individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have been noted since the first reports of the condition. Over time, empirical evidence has supported the notion that those with ASC have superior visual abilities compared with control subjects. However, it remains unclear whether these abilities are specifically the result of differences in sensory thresholds (low-level processing), rather than higher-level cognitive processes.
Methods
This study investigates visual threshold in n = 15 individuals with ASC and n = 15 individuals without ASC, using a standardized optometric test, the Freiburg Visual Acuity and Contrast Test, to investigate basic low-level visual acuity.
Results
Individuals with ASC have significantly better visual acuity (20:7) compared with control subjects (20:13)—acuity so superior that it lies in the region reported for birds of prey.
Conclusions
The results of this study suggest that inclusion of sensory hypersensitivity in the diagnostic criteria for ASC may be warranted and that basic standardized tests of sensory thresholds may inform causal theories of ASC.
Autism Research Centre, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Douglas House, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Address reprint requests to Emma Ashwin, M.A., Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge Douglas House, 18b Trumpington Road, Cambridge, CB2 8AH, United Kingdom
ABSTRACT