The development of communication in blind and in deaf infants—similarities and differences

Abstract

Results from two longitudinal studies of blind infant--sighted mother and of deaf infant-hearing mother/deaf mother interaction, are summarized in this paper. The aim is to shed light on the role of visual and auditory stimulation in the development of communication. Video-recorded interactions taken during infancy were transcribed in a systematic, objective and detailed way. The development of communication is described with a focus on pre-verbal abilities, exploration of toys, social and symbolic play, communicative intent and sharing of experiences. The results show a delay in the development of communication in the blind infants compared with the deaf infants, indicating a more critical role of visual stimulation compared with auditory stimulation during the infancy period to this development.

The World without Sight. A Comparative Study of Concept Understanding in Polish Congenitally Totally Blind and Sighted Children

“…rosel et al (2005) proved that verbalism is dependent on age -the number of visually based words in the mental lexicon grows with age, and verbalism in blind children is no different from verbalism in sighted children. It is contested by many papers that blind children develop their concept understanding at a slower pace compared to sighted children (Anderson et al 1984;preisler, 1995). Boldt (1969) identified ten modes of concept formation in blind children: sensory associative, magical, anthropomorphic, purposive, substantive, dynamic, uncritical functional, analogical, critical functional and casual.…”

An Examination of School Readiness: How Is the Construct Defined for Children Who Are Blind?

“…Children who are blind often lag behind typical peers with respect to cognitive and social-emotional skills even with services provided in ECSE (Bigelow, 1987;Erickson & Hatton, 2007;Fraiberg, 1977;Preisler, 1995;Stratton & Wright, 1991; Wormsley & D'Andrea, 1997). Early gains for students with disabilities, including those who are blind, who have been schooled prior to kindergarten, especially in the area of pre-academic skills, fade as students transition to kindergarten and move through the early grades (Magnuson et al, 2005;Shore, 1998).…”

“…The "developmental agenda" (Rimm-Kaufman& Pianta, 2000, p.43), is based on research of sighted children. There are unique developmental implications for a child who is blind including reluctance from teachers and caregivers to allow for physical independence (Stuart, Lieberman, & Hand, 2006), implications for peer relationships (Pérez-Pereira & Conti-Ramsden, 2013) and unique cognitive implications (Fraiberg, 1977;Lowenfeld, 1981, Warren, 1984 based on a lack of foundations concepts due to vision loss (Erickson & Hatton, 2007;Hatlen, 1996;Landau, Gleitman, & Landau, 2009;;Perez-Pereira & Conti-Ramsden, 2013;Preisler, 1995;Urwin, 1984a, Urwin, 1984bWormsley & D'Andrea, 1997).…”

“…Children who are blind should have the same expectations for academic readiness and outcomes as their sighted peers. Children who are blind often lag behind their more typical peers with respect to cognitive and social-emotional skills even with services provided in early childhood special education (Bigelow, 1987;Erickson & Hatton, 2007;Fraiberg, 1977;Preisler, 1995;Stratton & Wright, 1991;Wormsley & D'Andrea, 1997). Therefore, children who are blind entering kindergarten have additional and more complex needs than their sighted peers.…”

“…Researchers suggest that children who are blind lag behind their sighted peers in the areas of literacy, mathematical concepts, language and conceptual development (Bigelow, 1987;Erickson & Hatton, 2007;Fraiberg, 1977;Preisler, 1995;Stratton & Wright, 1991;Wormsley & D'Andrea, 1997). Researchers have identified braille readiness checklists and strategies but there is no comprehensive school readiness research specifically for children who are blind (Lamb, 1996;MacComiskey, 1996).…”