Visual acuity in infants and children with Down syndrome.

The authors used the Teller acuity cards to assess the visual acuity of 51 infants and children with Down syndrome aged between two months and 18 years. The success rate and test times were comparable to those reported for normally developing children. Even those subjects in the study who were free of ocular disorders and/or who were wearing optical correction during testing showed significantly poorer visual acuity than individuals without Down syndrome. The development of visual acuity in infants and children with Down syndrome lags behind that of age-matched peers without Down syndrome, especially after the age of six months. These findings are discussed in terms of the neurological and optical factors that might account for the deficits in visual acuity that were observed.