Neurodevelopmental impairments in children with septo-optic dysplasia spectrum conditions: a systematic review.

The authors did not formally appraise the quality of the 20 included studies, so how much weight each one carries is not reported. The samples differed so much in brain, hormone and optic nerve findings that the authors could not statistically work out which features contributed to the impairments. Several studies described children as having ONH when the hormone or brain findings reported suggest they met criteria for SOD, so the condition groups are not clean. The developmental and autism measures were built for sighted children and are not validated for visually impaired children, which may have overestimated how many children have autism. Most included studies were small, publication years ranged from 1984 to 2018, and a few studies included participants older than 18. Parents who already suspected autism in their child may have been more likely to take part.

The only funding or conflict statement in the text provided names the Medical Research Council as the funder. No other funding source or author declaration is reported.

Do not read the 35% as a firm estimate of how many of these children have autism. The tools used were designed for sighted children, and in one study only three of seven children received the same diagnosis across a clinician and three adapted autism measures, so some of what is counted may be an adaptation to visual loss rather than autism.