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Early social‐emotional development in blind infants
Author(s) -
TRÖSTER HEINRICH,
BRAMBRING MICHAEL
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2214.1992.tb00355.x
Subject(s) - psychology , developmental psychology , blindness , perception , emotional development , facial expression , social change , medicine , communication , neuroscience , optometry , economics , economic growth
Summary In order to study the impact of blindness on social and emotional development during the first year of life, the level of social‐emotional development was compared in blind and sighted 9‐ and 12‐month‐old infants. The five 9‐month‐old and the 17 12‐month‐old blind infants were completely blind from birth and exhibited no further serious disabilities. Social‐emotional development was assessed with a scale from the Bielefeld Developmental Test for Blind Infants and Preschoolers containing three subscales on emotions, social interaction and impulse control. Compared to non‐disabled infants, blind infants exhibited a more limited repertoire of facial expressions and less responsiveness. They less frequently attempted to initiate contact with their mothers (self‐initiated interactions) or comply with simple requests and prohibitions than sighted infants. These differences in the social‐emotional development of blind and sighted infants are traced back to the effects of blindness on the mother‐child interaction. The lack of visual perception appears to impede particularly the acquisition of a dialogue concept.