Prevalence of Elementary Visuo-spatial Perception Deficit in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Objectives: Elementary visuo-spatial perception (EVSP) consists of distinguishing, through vision, the relative position of objects in the environment, as well as their spatial metrics (size, length, and angle). It is “elementary” in the sense it is contributing to the development of other cognitive and visuo-motor functions; however, it relies on non-primary areas but rather on the superior and middle occipital gyri and the posterior parietal cortex. EVSP appears as a crucial dimension in the categorical distinction of specific learning disabilities due to an impairment of the nonverbal domain. Meta-analyses have identified visuo-spatial processing as a major deficit in developmental coordination disorder population. The literature has also raised deficits of EVSP in specific learning disorder, especially in dyslexia and dyscalculia. Here, our aim was to evaluate the prevalence of EVSP deficits in the traditional clinical categories of neurodevelopmental disorders defined by the DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th revision-American Psychiatric Association, 2013)

Content: Methods: We designed and validated a simple screening test that lasts only 15 minutes and does not involve any motor manual response, visual agnosia or language (Pisella et al. 2013, 2019). Here, we used this screening test to evaluate the prevalence of EVSP deficits in 165 children presenting a diagnosed developmental disorder. The diagnoses of developmental coordination disorder (DCD), specific learning disorder, language disorder and attention deficit with or without hyperactivity disorder were established by an interdisciplinary clinical team along the DSM-V-criteria. Eclusion criteria were pre-term birth, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autistic spectrum disorder, or intellectual deficiency. Inclusion criteria were a normal or corrected-to-normal visual acuity.

Results: In this population, children with language disorder (LD) were the only group that did not significantly differ from typically developing children. Children with DCD were the most frequently impaired in this test of EVSP, and more severely when they exhibited another or more co-morbid disorder. Children with pure specific learning disorder (SLD) were also notably impaired with 66% scoring below the lower interquartile range of typically developing children, but only 6% were severely impaired (outliers).

Conclusion: These results highlight the importance to include an assessment and a training of these EVSP abilities in the rehabilitation of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Publication History

Article published online:
16 March 2022