A COMPUTER-GENERATED TEST OF ACUITY FOR MULTI-HANDICAPPED CHILDREN

Assessment of visual function in severely intellectually handicapped c hildren is difficult but necessary for educational purposes. The diffi culties encountered include: lack of literacy skills; lack of Verbal a nd tine motor skills; and low interest level of the optotypes. A compu ter-generated test has been developed that helps overcome these diffic ulties. This test presents pictures equivalent in line width to Snelle n, which are manipulated on screen to provide movement and change of s ize to facilitate non-verbal responses and to increase interest level. Evaluation trials were conducted with 96 cognitively normal children and 37 multi-handicapped children. The computer test facilitated testi ng of significantly more of the multi-handicapped children. Data from both trial groups indicated a good positive correlation between the co mputer test and a standard optotype test. Further refinement and evalu ation of this computer test is continuing.