Abstract
Twenty persons with autism were assessed with two visual acuity tests with different demands to language competence, sustained attention and direction of the subject's attention. For only one of the persons with autism did the two tests reveal equal visual acuity. For 5 of the remaining 19 persons with autism did the two tests reveal quite different visual acuity, and 14 of the persons with autism did only respond to one of the two visual acuity tests and not to the other. Visual attention pattern was also assessed. Results suggested that two forms of rigid visual attention pattern among the persons with autism may form the basis for differences in their test performance. A relation between visual attention pattern and reduced accuracy in eye movements in persons with autism is suggested. Dependent on developmental pathways, the visual attention pattern may either be adaptive for information pickup, or maladaptive and protective from a chaotic visual world.