Early Language Development in Blind and Severely Visually Impaired Children. Interim Report on Pilot Study.

This study investigated variables that might be associated with outcome differences in language development of 10 children (ages 10-20 months) with blindness or severe visual impairments, attending a developmental vision clinic in southern England. Subjects' early patterns of expressive language development were examined and related to observed patterns of interaction between subjects and their parents. Results showed the effect of even a very small amount of vision upon language development and interaction. Children who had some useful vision either had equal levels of sensori-motor understanding and verbal comprehension, or had an advantage in their level of practical manipulation of objects. However, children who were functionally blind showed a tendency for comprehension to exceed the expected level of sensori-motor understanding. Patterns of early acquired words differed from sighted children, as subjects used a high proportion of personal names and sang words in songs spontaneously. When toys were introduced to the children, the partially sighted children often approached the toys independently but the blind children had to be encouraged to react by the parents, and tended to be wary of or uninterested in something new. (Approximately 50 references.) (JDD)