Clinical Optometry

Eyecare for patients with intellectual disabilities

Patients with an intellectual disability are more likely to have problems with their eyesight, but are also much less likely to be able to access eyecare services. There have been a great many positive changes in the way society thinks about learning disability and autism, and optometry has woken to the eye care needs of these vulnerable groups. With the launch of new systems such as the Visual Fixation system (which allows the optometrist to obtain better results for patients who find it difficult to engage in an eye test by using a mobile phone to display something that will relax the patient whilst the clinician can take measurements as they are watching the phone) optometry is making good progress in this field. However, there is still a long way to go before we can say we have achieved “inclusion” in eye care, and a lot more work needed before we can say we can understand the whats, whys, and wherefores of eye care.