Problems with vision in people with FASD are so reliably common that they are used as a complementary tool for diagnosis of FASD under the ‘FASD Eye Code’. This code, first proposed in 2021 was designed to be easy to use both clinically and in fieldwork, and can be utilised in childhood to mitigate lifetime visual impairments in people with FASD.

This report (2021) from the New York-based Review of Optometry begins:

"Exposure to prenatal alcohol can result in a number of functional impairments, including ophthalmological abnormalities such as ptosis, refractive errors, strabismus, subnormal visual acuity and optic nerve hypoplasia. In those diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), such ophthalmic abnormalities often result in visual perception problems (VPPs). A recent study investigated VPPs as well as health- and vision-related quality of life in young adults and found that this population had both more VPPs and lower quality of life scores than healthy controls."

Click here to read a research paper (March 2023) on the US National Library of Medicine website which set out to validate the FASD Eye Code (and succeeded).