Beneficial aspects of autism stemming from enhanced visuospatial skills: Result from a comparative study in India

BACKGROUND: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a relatively common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, associated with restrictive and repetitive behaviors, interests, and activities. However, there are various positive character traits among individuals suffering from ASD – they are generally honest, decisive, and nonjudgmental. They are also reported to have excellent attention to details, which have been ascribed to their enhanced visual search skills. AIM: Our study was undertaken to assess these visuospatial perception skills among children with autism and compare the results with that of typically developing (TD) children in the Indian population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 47 children with ASD and 47 age-, gender-, and education-matched TD children were assessed using tests for disjunctive and conjunction search, real-world visual search, and visual working memory. RESULTS: Children with ASD performed significantly better than the TD children in tests for visual search and were comparable in the test for visual working memory. CONCLUSION: Our study showed that children with autism have enhanced visual skills, and this quality can be honed further and be utilized in jobs that require good observation skills and attention to details.