Autonomy in children and adolescents with visual impairment: Validation of the Visual Impairment Developmental Autonomy scale.

Many who consented did not complete the questionnaires: 160 families and 42 adolescents consented, but 110 parents and 18 adolescents provided complete responses. The sample may not represent all children with visual impairment because it came from specialized rehabilitation centres and excluded children with developmental delay/intellectual disability, neuromotor disorders, central nervous system involvement, chronic comorbidities, or neurodevelopmental disorders. The study did not reach the recommended sample size, although the authors considered the sample adequate for validation. Parent and therapist agreement was tested only in a subgroup of patients whose reports were completed by professionals at a single rehabilitation centre. The self-report version of the scale is only available for adolescents, so younger children's own views were not captured. The scale was validated only in Italian-language participants, and cross-cultural validity has not been tested. Visual field was assessed clinically rather than with standardized perimetry or campimetry. The authors used quality-of-life questionnaires for convergent validity, not a more specific autonomy measure. The study could not assess the impact of rehabilitation because interventions were personalized and had occurred before the study.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was funded by the Italian Ministry of Health (Fondi correnti 2021, Ricerca corrente).

Do not treat VIDA as a validated autonomy measure for every child with visual impairment. It was tested only in Italian-language children and adolescents with isolated peripheral visual impairment, excluding developmental delay/intellectual disability and neurodevelopmental disorders, and cross-cultural validity has not been tested.