In this article, an intersubjective developmental theory that focuses primarily on the development of the interworld between the caregiver and the infant is used to integrate and interpret the seemingly incoherent and contradictory research findings on the interactions between mothers and their infants with visual impairments. The implications for further research and early intervention practices are presented.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdamsonL., & BakemanR. (1991). The development of shared attention during infancy. Annals of Child Development, 8, 1–41.
2.
AdamsonL., & McArthurD. (1995). Joint attention, affect, and culture. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 205–221). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
3.
AkhtarN., DunhamF., & DunhamP. (1991). Directive interactions and early vocabulary development. The role of joint attentional focus. Journal of Child Language, 18, 41–49.
4.
AlsH., TronickE., & BrazeltonT. B. (1980). Affective reciprocity and the development of autonomy: The study of a blind infant. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 19, 22–40.
5.
AndersenE., DunleaA., & KekelisL. (1993). The impact of input: Language acquisition in the visually impaired. First Language, 13, 23–49.
6.
BairdS. M., MayfieldP., & BakerP. (1997). Mothers’ interpretations of the behavior of their infants with visual and other impairments during interactions. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 91, 467–483.
7.
BakemanR., & AdamsonL. (1984). Coordinating attention to people and objects in mother-infant and peer-infant interaction. Child Development, 55, 1278–1289.
8.
BaldwinD. (1991). Infants’ contribution to the achievement of joint reference. Child Development, 63, 875–890.
9.
BaldwinD. (1993a). Early referential understanding: Infants’ ability to recognize referential acts for what they are. Developmental Psychology, 29, 832–843.
10.
BaldwinD. (1993b). Infants’ ability to consult the speaker for clues to word reference. Journal of Child Language, 20, 395–418.
11.
BaldwinD. (1995). Understanding the link between joint attention and language. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 131–158). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
12.
BaldwinD., & MosesL. (1993). The ontogeny of social information-seeking. Unpublished manuscript, University of Oregon, Eugene.
13.
BatesE. (1976). Language and context: The acquisition of pragmatics.New York: Academic Press.
14.
BehlD. D., AkersJ. F., BoyceG. C., & TaylorM. J. (1996). Do mothers interact differently with children who are visually impaired?Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 90, 501–511.
15.
BloomK., RussellA., & WassenbergK. (1987). Turn-taking affects the quality of infant vocalizations. Journal of Child Language, 14, 211–227.
16.
BowlbyJ. (1969). Attachment, Vol. 1 of attachment and loss.London: Hogarth Press.
17.
BowlbyJ. (1989). A secure base: Clinical applications of attachment theory.London: Tavistock/Routledge.
18.
BrazeltonT., TronickE., AdamsonL., AlsH., & WiseS. (1975). Early mother-infant reciprocity. In O'ConnorM. (Ed.), Parent-infant interaction (pp. 137–154). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
19.
BrunerJ. (1977). Early social interaction and language acquisition. In SchafferH. (Ed.), Studies in mother-infant interaction (pp. 271–289). New York: Academic Press.
20.
BrunerJ. (1983). Child's talk: Learning to use language.New York: W. W. Norton.
21.
BrunerJ. (1995). From joint attention to the meeting of minds: An introduction. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 1–14). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
22.
BullowaM. (1979). Before speech: The beginning of interpersonal communication.New York: Cambridge University Press.
23.
ButterworthG. (1995). Origins of mind in perception and action. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 29–40). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
24.
ChenD. (1999). Essential elements in early intervention: Visual impairment and multiple disabilities.New York: AFB Press.
25.
Conti-RamsdenG., & Pérez-PereiraM. (1999). Conversational interactions between mothers and their infants who are congenitally blind, have low vision, or are sighted. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 93, 691–703.
26.
CrossleyN. (1996). Inter subjectivity: The fabric of social becoming.London: Sage.
27.
Dote-KwanJ. (1995). Impact of mothers’ interaction on the development of their young visually impaired children. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 89, 46–59.
28.
Dote-KwanJ., & HughesM. (1994). The home environments of young blind children. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 88, 31–42.
29.
D'OdoricoL., & LevoratoM. (1990). Social and cognitive determinants of mutual gaze between mother and infant. In VolterraV., & ErtingC. (Eds.), From gesture to language in hearing and deaf children (pp. 1–17). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
30.
DunhamP., & DunhamF. (1992). Lexical development during middle infancy: A mutually driven infant-caregiver process. Developmental Psychology, 28, 414–420.
31.
DunhamP., & DunhamF. (1995). Optimal social structures and adaptive infant development. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 159–188). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
32.
DunhamP., & MooreC. (1995). Current themes in research on joint attention. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 15–28). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
33.
FeinmanS. (1992). Social referencing and the social construction of reality in infancy.New York: Plenum.
34.
FraibergS. (1977). Insights from the blind.New York: Basic Books.
35.
FraibergS. (1979). Blind infants and their mothers: An examination of the sign system. In BullowaM. (Ed.), Before speech: The beginning of interpersonal communication (pp. 149–169). New York: Cambridge University Press.
36.
FreemanR. D., GoetzE., RichardsD. P., GroenveldM., BlockbergerS., JanJ. E., & SykandaA. M. (1989). Blind children's early emotional development: Do we know enough to help?Child: Care, Health and Development, 15, 3–28.
37.
HattonD. D., BaileyD. B., BurchinalM. R., & FerrellK. A. (1997). Developmental growth curves of preschool children with vision impairments. Child Development, 68, 788–806.
38.
Hoff-GinsbergE. (1987). Topic relations in mother-child conversation. First Language, 7, 145–158.
39.
IsabellaR., & BelskyJ. (1991). Interactional synchrony and the origins of infant-mother attachment: A replication study. Child Development, 62, 373–384.
40.
KayeH. (1977). Infant sucking behaviour and its modification. In LipsittL., & SpikerC. (Eds.), Advances in child development and behaviour.London: Academic Press.
41.
KayeK., & CharneyR. (1980). How mothers maintain dialogue with two-year-olds. In OlsonD. (Ed.), The social foundations of language and thought.New York: W. W. Norton.
42.
KayeK., & CharneyR. (1981). Conversational asymmetry between mothers and children. Journal of Child Language, 8, 35–50.
43.
KekelisL. S., & AndersenE. (1984). Family communication styles and language development. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 78, 54–65.
44.
KekelisL. S., & PrinzP.M. (1996). Blind and sighted children with their mothers: The development of discourse skills. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 90, 423–436.
45.
LandryS. (1995). The development of joint attention in premature low birth weight infants: Effects of early medical complications and maternal attention-directing behaviors. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 223–250). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
46.
MeltzoffA., & GopnikA. (1993). The role of imitation in understanding persons and developing a theory of mind. In Baron-CohenS., Tager-FlusbergH., & CohenD. (Eds.), Understanding other minds—Perspective from autism (pp. 335–366). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
47.
MesserD. (1994). The development of communication: From social interaction to language.Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons.
48.
MooreV., & McConachieH. (1994). Communication between blind and severely visually impaired children and their parents. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 12, 491–502.
PapousekM., & PapousekH. (1975). Cognitive aspects of preverbal social interaction between human infants and adults. In O'ConnorM. (Ed.), Parent-infant interaction (pp. 241–260). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
51.
PapousekH., & PapousekM. (1983). Biological basis of social interactions: Implications of research for an understanding of behavioural deviance. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 24, 117–129.
52.
PapousekH., & PapousekM. (1992). Early integrative and communicative development: Pointers to humanity. In EmrichH., & WiegandM. (Eds.), Integrative biological psychiatry (pp. 45–60). Berlin: Springer-Verlag.
53.
PedersonD., & MoranG. (1995). A categorical description of attachment relationships in the home and its relation to Q-sort measures of infant attachment security and maternal sensitivity. In WatersE., VaughnB. E., PosedaG., & Kondo-IkemuraK. (Eds.), Care-giving, cultural, and cognitive perspectives on secure-base behavior and working models: New growing points of attachment theory and research {Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 60, 2–3, Serial No. 244), 111–132.
54.
PedersonD., & MorariG. (1996). Expressions of the attachment relationship outside of the strange situation. Annual Review of Psychology, 67, 915–927.
55.
Perez-PereiraM., & Conti-RamsdenG. (1999). Language development and social interaction in blind children.Hove, England: Psychology Press.
56.
PreislerG. M. (1991). Early patterns of interaction between blind infants and their sighted mothers. Child: Care, Health and Development, 17, 65–90.
57.
PreislerG. (1997). Social and emotional development of blind children: A longitudinal study. In LewisV., & CollisG. M. (Eds.), Blindness and psychological development in young children (pp. 69–85). Leicester, England: BPS Books.
58.
RaverC., & LeadbeaterB. (1995). Factors influencing joint attention between socioeconomically disadvantaged adolescent mothers and their infants. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 251–271). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
59.
RecchiaS. L. (1997a). Establishing intersubjective experience: developmental challenges for young children with congenital blindness and autism and their caregivers. In LewisV., & CollinsG. M. (Eds.), Blindness and psychological development in young children (pp. 116–129). Leicester, England: BPS Books.
60.
RecchiaS. L. (1997b). Social communication and response to ambiguous stimuli in toddlers with visual impairments. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 18, 237–316.
61.
RogersS. J., & PuchalskiC. B. (1984). Development of symbolic play in visually impaired young children. Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 3, 57–60.
62.
RowlandC. (1983). Patterns of interaction between three blind infants and their mothers. In MillsA. E. (Ed.), Language acquisition in the blind child: Normal and deficient (pp. 114–132). London: CroomHelm.
63.
RowlandC. (1984). Preverbal communication of blind infants and their mothers. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 78, 297–302.
64.
ScaifeM., & BrunerJ. (1975). The capacity for joint visual attention in the infant. Nature, 253, 265–266.
65.
SigmanM., & KasariC. (1995). Joint attention across contexts in normal and autistic children. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 189–203). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
66.
SpencerP. E., ErtingC. J., & MarscharkM. (2000). The deaf child in the family and at school. Essays in honor of Kathryn P. Meadow-Orlans.Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
67.
SternD. (1985). The interpersonal world of the infant. A view from psychoanalysis and developmental psychology.New York: Basic Books.
68.
SternD., BeebeB., JaffeJ., & BennettS. (1977). The infant's stimulus world during social interaction. A study of caregiver behaviors with particular reference to repetition and timing. In SchafferH. (Ed.), Studies in mother-infant interaction (pp. 177–202). London: Academic Press.
69.
TomaselloM. (1988). The role of joint attentional processes in early language development. Language Sciences, 10, 69–88.
70.
TomaselloM. (1993). On the interpersonal origins of self-concept. In NeisserU. (Ed.), The perceived self: Ecological and interpersonal sources of self-knowledge (pp. 174–184). New York: Cambridge University Press.
71.
TomaselloM. (1995). Joint attention as social cognition. In MooreC., & DunhamP. (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 103–130). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
72.
TomaselloM., & FarrarM. (1986). Joint attention and early language. Child Development, 57, 1454–1463.
73.
TomaselloM., & ToddJ. (1983). Joint attention and early lexical acquisition style. First Language, 4, 197–212.
74.
TrevarthenC. (1979). Instincts for human understanding and for cultural co-operation: Their development in infancy. In von CranachM., FoppaK., LepeniesW., & PloogD. (Eds.), Human ethology: Claims and limits of a new discipline (pp. 530–571). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
75.
TrevarthenC., & HubleyP. (1978). Secondary intersubjectivity: Confidence, confiders and acts of meaning in the first year. In LockA. (Ed.), Action, gesture and symbol: The emergence of language (pp. 183–231). London: Academic Press.
76.
UrwinC. (1983). Dialogue and cognitive functioning in the early language development of three blind children. In MillsA. E. (Ed.), Language acquisition in the blind: Normal and deficient (pp. 142–161). London: Croom Helm.
77.
WaldenT., & OganT. (1988). The development of social referencing. Child Development, 59, 1230–1240.
78.
WarrenD. H. (1994). Blindness and children: An individual differences approach.New York: Cambridge University Press.
79.
WellsG. (1981). Learning through interaction: The study of language development.Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
80.
WernerJ., & KaplanB. (1963). Symbol formation.New York: John Wiley & Sons.
81.
WillsD. M. (1979). The ordinary devoted mother and her blind baby. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 34, 31–49.