Quality of Individualized Education Programs for Children With Visual Impairments and Autism Spectrum Disorder

Introduction: Children with optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) frequently have co-occurring developmental disorders, and children with both visual impairments and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have complex educational needs. Research Question: Do the individualized education programs (IEPs) of children with visual impairment and ASD comport with national educational guidelines? Methods: Participants were 13 children enrolled in a larger longitudinal study of ONH. Children were assessed for ASD, verbal intellectual functioning, and level of visual impairment. An IEP coding manual was developed by the authors and used to compare the IEP goals, services, and accommodations to national guidelines for the education of children with visual impairment and children with ASD. Results: Key findings indicated that needs in the domains of academics, assistive technology, and orientation and mobility were addressed, but other crucial areas of development such as social skills, social-emotional and behavioral needs, and skills for independent living were commonly overlooked. Discussion: It is recommended that IEP teams pay greater attention to the complex range of needs of children with visual impairments and that national guidelines for the education of children with visual impairment and ASD be incorporated into federal special education law. Implications for Practitioners: National guidelines for the educational needs of children with visual impairments and with ASD provide important guidance for IEP teams when developing goals, services, and supports, and efforts should be made to ensure educators and parents are aware of them. Children who have both visual impairments and ASD have complex educational needs that are often not fully addressed in IEPs. In particular, social-emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs may be overlooked by IEP teams, and consistent inclusion of school psychologists or other mental health professionals on IEP teams may lead to greater attention to these areas of need.