Verbal definitions of familiar objects in blind children reflect their peculiar perceptual experience

Vinter, Annie; Fernandes, Viviane Lemos Silva; Orlandi, Oriana; Morgan, Pascal

doi:10.1111/cch.12002

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(47 reference statements)

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“…This bias was observed irrespective of whether these blind children were aged 3to-6 or 6-to-8 years, and whether or not they received partial information without geometrical or texture cues or full information systematically containing geometrical cues, and occasionally texture cues. It should be noted that the same type of bias was obtained when blind children were asked to verbally define familiar objects, as compared to agematched sighted children (Vinter et al, 2013). Furthermore, in the blind children, the decrease in exploration times was associated with both a more organized exploration phase (indicated by a more frequent use of bimanual and symmetrical movements) and a better production of correct naming responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Identification of Textured Tactile Pictures in Visually Impaired and Blindfolded Sighted Children

2020

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A high level of variability in the capacity of visually impaired children to accurately identify tactile images is reported in the literature, with on average rather low percentages of correct naming responses. However, most of these studies used raised-line drawings as stimuli to be explored and named. The present experiment investigated whether blind children of 3 to 8 years of age would demonstrate a satisfactory ability to name the elements making up tactile images when tested in an experimental setting similar to their natural reading conditions. Textured tactile images taken from genuine illustrated tactile books for young children were used, and the participants received information about the title of the book or listened the text that accompanied each picture before exploration, as it would occur in a natural reading setting. The results showed that their naming scores were indeed higher than previously reported at equivalent ages and did not differ from those of age-matched sighted children. These scores were positively impacted by haptic practice in blind children and correlated with the use of some specific exploratory procedures. The blind children benefited from information provided before exploration, as did their sighted counterparts. However, only in the former did the condition in which full information was provided influence the way the children organized their exploration. The haptic identification scores increased with age regardless of visual status, with the exploration times decreasing in the blind children, while the reverse trend was observed in the sighted children. These results are discussed at the light of the image-mediation model of haptics, suggesting that during the age period considered in the present experiment, blind children would progressively learn to process haptic information directly, thus leading to a decrease of exploration times, while sighted children would learn to translate haptic information into a visual image used to retrieve semantic information, involving an increase of their exploration times.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Identification of Textured Tactile Pictures in Visually Impaired and Blindfolded Sighted Children

2020

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“…With regards to the lexical component, Vinter and colleagues [75] showed that blind children tended to define words denoting concrete animate or inanimate familiar objects evoking their close perceptual experiences of touch, taste, and smell. It was different from what sighted children, who relied their definition on visual perception, and produced more visually oriented verbalism.…”

Section: Language and Communication Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Like children with ASD, blind children may ask many questions, sometimes inappropriately, and may make 'off-the-wall' comments [83]. They also tend to refer more often to their personal experiences than sighted children when evoking familiar objects [75]. Mothers of children who present severe peripheral VI seem to take more frequent and longer turns at speaking or with other forms of communication than do mothers of sighted children, resulting in an asymmetry between relative dyads' experiences [67,85].…”

Section: Language and Communication Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autistic-Like Features in Visually Impaired Children: A Review of Literature and Directions for Future Research

et al. 2020

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There remains great interest in understanding the relationship between visual impairment (VI) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to the extraordinarily high prevalence of ASD in blind and visually impaired children. The broad variability across individuals and assessment methodologies have made it difficult to understand whether autistic-like symptoms shown by some children with VI might reflect the influence of the visual deficit, or represent a primary neurodevelopmental condition that occurs independently of the VI itself. In the absence of a valid methodology adapted for the visually impaired population, diagnosis of ASD in children with VI is often based on non-objective clinical impression, with inconclusive prevalence data. In this review, we discuss the current state of knowledge and suggest directions for future research.

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“…Moreover, other studies examining the language of the blind identified the use of multisensory references (mainly tactile and auditory) in the description of concepts and in the narration of mental images by these subjects (Anderson, & Olson, 1981;Lambert 2003;Vinter, Fernandes, Orlandi, & Morgan, 2013). These discoveries are linked with theories of embo-died cognition in the field of linguistics (Barsalou, 1999;Glenberg, & Kaschak, 2002).…”

Section: Verbal Description Of the Sensorial Experiencementioning

confidence: 97%

How to Make the Body Speak? Visual Disability, Verbalism and Embodied Speech

Kastrup

Valente

2018

Psicol. cienc. prof.

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Verbalism represents a controversial issue in the field of visual disability. It is frequently stated that blind people use statements with words and expressions which are not based on direct sensory experience. Sometimes it is considered a pathology or something specific to blind people. In taking the work of three blind researchers – Pierre Villey, Joana Belarmino and Bertrand Verine – as a guideline, this paper emphasizes two main points: 1) The usage of words with visual references constitutes a strategy of inclusion in a social environment dominated by vision; 2) The importance to develop new affirmative actions to stimulate embodied and multisensory discourse, favoring experiences of belonging and sharing between the blind and the sighted beyond the hegemony of vision.

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Verbal definitions of familiar objects in blind children reflect their peculiar perceptual experience

Abstract: The results are discussed in line with embodied views of cognition that postulate mandatory perceptuomotor processing of words during access to their meaning.

Cited by 19 publications

References 30 publications

Identification of Textured Tactile Pictures in Visually Impaired and Blindfolded Sighted Children

Identification of Textured Tactile Pictures in Visually Impaired and Blindfolded Sighted Children

Autistic-Like Features in Visually Impaired Children: A Review of Literature and Directions for Future Research

How to Make the Body Speak? Visual Disability, Verbalism and Embodied Speech

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