Home‐based early intervention in infants and young children with visual impairment using the Developmental Journal: longitudinal cohort study

AIM: To investigate the effects of home-based early intervention in children with severe visual impairment (SVI) using the Developmental Journal for babies and young children with visual impairment (DJVI). METHOD: A longitudinal observational study was undertaken with a national cohort (OPTIMUM) of infants with congenital disorders of the peripheral visual system (CDPVS) and profound-SVI; and followed up after 12 months and 24 months. Intervention was categorized according to the practitioner diary records of their usual practice over 12 months from baseline comparing those receiving the DJVI and those receiving 'Other Support'. Outcome measures of cognition and language, behaviour difficulties, parenting stress, and satisfaction with parent-practitioner partnership were collected. RESULTS: In the 54 children (26 males, 28 females, baseline mean age 13.5mo, SD 2.3mo, range 8-17mo) with 'total' CDPVS (including 16 'complex' and 38 'simple' with or without known brain disorder respectively), linear mixed effects pointed towards acceleration in sensorimotor understanding and expressive language especially in the 'simple' subsample (11.72 developmental quotient, 95% confidence interval -1.17 to 24.61, p>0.05) in those receiving the DJVI. Vision level also predicted outcomes (p<0.05). The DJVI group showed improvements in behavioural withdrawal (η2 =0.20, p=0.02, 'simple') and parenting stress (d=0.78, d=0.92, p=0.02 total and 'simple' respectively) and perceived practitioner-parent relationship (η2 =0.16, p=0.01). INTERPRETATION: Infants and young children with visual impairment receiving home-based early intervention using the DJVI with a structured developmental approach had better outcomes than those receiving 'other' home-based early interventions. Moderate to large effect improvements were found in child cognition and language, behaviour and parenting stress and the perceived practitioner-parent relationship, although cognition did not reach 5% significance level. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: Early intervention using the Developmental Journal for babies and young children with visual impairment was associated with enhanced developmental outcomes compared to other approaches. Improvements were also found in child behaviour, parenting stress, and perceived parent practitioner outcomes. Type and complexity of visual impairment also influenced outcomes.