Viewing Strategy Training in Children With (Cerebral) Visual Impairment

Launched by ROYAL DUTCH VISIO · Oct 26, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is exploring how children with different types of visual impairments process what they see and whether training can help them improve. The study focuses on three groups of children: those with normal vision, those with ocular visual impairment (issues related to the eyes), and those with cerebral visual impairment (problems related to how the brain processes visual information). The goal is to understand the viewing strategies used by these children and to see if teaching specific viewing strategies can make it easier for them to understand visual information.

Children aged 5 to 12 years may be eligible to participate, depending on their vision and cognitive abilities. For instance, typically developing children should have good vision and no developmental disorders, while those with visual impairments will have specific criteria based on their vision levels. Participants can expect to take part in tests that assess their visual processing and, if applicable, receive training to help them improve their viewing strategies. It’s important to note that children must have difficulty with visual tasks to qualify for the training phase. This study is currently recruiting participants and aims to provide valuable insights into how we can better support children with visual challenges.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion criteria typically developing children with normal vision:
• • Age 5-12 years
• • linear distant visual acuity of 0.1 logMAR or better
• • Verbal IQ above 70
• • Absence of developmental disorders or psychiatric problems like ASS or AD(H)D
• Inclusion criteria for children with ocular visual impairment:
• • Age 5-12 years
• • Children with linear distance visual acuity better \<=1.3logMAR and \>0.1 logMAR
• • Intact central visual field (at least \> 30 degrees)
• • Children with a verbal IQ above 70
• • Absence of developmental disorders or psychiatric problems like ASS or AD(H)D
• Inclusion criteria for children with cerebral visual impairment:
• • Age 5-12 years
• • Linear distance visual acuity \<=0.3 logMAR
• • Having the diagnosis CVI (verified by ophthalmologists)
• • Children with a verbal IQ above 70
• • Absence of psychiatric problems like ASS or AD(H)D
• • Additional inclusion criterion for study 2 (evaluating training effectiveness): children with (cerebral) visual impairment should have an indication for viewing strategy training. Training should not be indicated if children have no problems performing academic tasks (i.e. when speed and accuracy of visual processing is within the normal range). The age range for study 2 is 5-9 years.
• Exclusion criteria:
• • Children with VI: linear near visual acuity \>1.0 logMAR
• • Children with visual field defect \< 30 degrees
• • Children with a verbal IQ below 70
• • Children who attended a form of vision training in the past two years
• • Children with psychiatric problems like ASS or AD(H)D
• • Auditory impairment or language impairments
• • Major life events during training