This empirical study compared the average ages at which four congenitally blind children acquired 29 gross motor skills with age norms for sighted children. The results indicated distinct developmental delays in the acquisition of motor skills and a high degree of variability in developmental delays within and across the six subdomains that were analyzed.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AdelsonA., & FraibergS. (1974). Gross motor development in blind infants. Child Development, 45, 114–126.
2.
AdelsonA., & FraibergS. (1976). Sensory deficit and motor development in infants blind from birth. In JastrzembskaZ. S. (Ed.), The effects of blindness and other impairments on early development (pp. 1–28). New York: American Foundation for the Blind.
3.
BayleyN. (1969). Manual for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development.New York: Psychological Corporation.
4.
BayleyN. (1993). Manual for the Bayley Scales of Infant Development—BSID II.New York: Psychological Corporation.
5.
BrambringM. (1989). Methodological and conceptual issues in the construction of a developmental test for blind infants and preschoolers. In BrambringM., LoeselF., & SkowronekH. (Eds.), Children at risk: Assessment, longitudinal research, and intervention (pp. 136–154). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
6.
BrambringM. (1993). “Lessons” with a child who is blind: Development and early intervention in the first years of life.Okemos, MI: Blind Children's Fund.
7.
BrambringM. (1996). Early intervention with blind children: Main findings of the Bielefeld longitudinal study. In BrambringM., RauhH., & BeelmannA. (Eds.), Early childhood intervention: Theory, evaluation, and practice (pp. 419–435). New York: de Gruyter.
8.
BrambringM. (1997a). Parent support groups in early intervention (Part 1 of 2). British Journal of Visual Impairment, 16, 33–37.
9.
BrambringM. (1997b). Parent support groups in early intervention (Part 2 of 2). British Journal of Visual Impairment, 16, 73–80.
10.
BrambringM. (1999). Handbuch: Entwicklungsbeobachtung und -förderung blinder Klein- und Vorschulkinder—Beobachtungsbögen und Entwicklungsdaten der Bielefelder Längsschnittstudie [Manual: Developmental observation and early intervention with infants and preschoolers who are blind. Scales and developmental data of the Bielefeld longitudinal study]. Würzburg, Germany: Edition Bentheim.
11.
BrambringM. (2003, August). Entwicklungsunterschiede blinder und sehender Kinder [Developmental differences of blind and seeing children]. In “Qualitäten”— Rehabilitation und Pädagogik bei Blindheit und Sehbehinderung [“Qualities”—Rehablitation and pedagogy with blindness and visual impairment]. Paper presented at the 33rd Kongress der Blinden—und Sehbehindertenpädagogen und—pädagoginnen (VBS), Dortmund, Germany.
12.
BrambringM. (2005). Divergente Entwicklung blinder und sehender Kinder: Gesamtvergleich [Divergent development of blind and sighted children in four developmental areas].Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie.
13.
BrambringM. (2006). Early intervention with infants and preschoolers who are blind: Bielefeld Observation Scales (BOS-BLIND).Würzburg: Edition Bentheim.
14.
BrambringM., BeelmannA., BuitenhuisS., HeckerW., KurpC., Licher-EversmannG., & MuellerA. (1995). Frühförderung blinder Kinder [Early intervention with blind children: Design and main findings of the Bielefeld project]. Konzeption und Hauptergebnisse des Bielefelder Projektes. Kindheit und Entwicklung, 4, 149–156.
15.
BrandtI. (1983). Griffiths-Entwicklungsskalen [Griffiths Developmental Scales]. Weinheim, Germany: Beltz. (Original work published 1954)
16.
CelesteM. (2002). A survey of motor development for infants and young children with visual impairments. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 96, 169–174.
17.
FerrellK. A. (1986). Infancy and early childhood. In SchollG. T. (Ed.), Foundations of education for blind and visually handicapped children and youth (pp. 119–135). New York: American Foundation for the Blind.
18.
FerrellK. A., (2000). Growth and development of young children. In HolbrookM. C., & KoenigA. J. (Eds.), Foundations of education: Volume I. History and theory of teaching children and youths with visual impairments (2nd ed., pp. 111–134). New York: American Foundation for the Blind.
19.
FlehmigI., SchloonM., UhdeJ., & von BernuthH. (1973). Denver-Entwicklungsskalen. Testanweisung [Denver Developmental Screening Test]. Hamburg, Germany: Hamburger Spastikerverein. (Original work published 1954).
20.
FoulkeE. (1982). Perception, cognition, and the mobility of blind pedestrians. In PotegalM. (Ed.), Spatial abilities, development and physiological foundation (pp. 55–75). New York: Academic Press.
21.
FraibergS. (1977). Insights from the blind. Comparative studies of blind and sighted infants.New York: New American Library.
22.
GibsonJ. J. (1979). Locomotion and manipulation. In GibsonJ. J. (Ed.), The ecological approach to visual perception (pp. 223–237). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
23.
HattonD. D., BaileyD. B., BurchinalM. R., & FerrellK. A. (1997). Development growth curves of preschool children with vision impairments. Child Development, 68, 788–806.
24.
JanJ. E., FreemanR. D., & ScottE. P. (1977). Visual impairment in children and adolescents.New York: Grune & Stratton.
25.
JanJ. E., RobinsonG. C., ScottE., & KinnisC. (1975). Hypotonia in the blind child. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 17, 35–40.
26.
LeonhartR. (2004). Effektgrößenberechnung bei Interventionsstudien [Effect size computation in intervention studies]. Rehabilitation, 43, 241–246.
NorrisM., SpauldingP. J., & BrodieF. H. (1957). Blindness in children.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
29.
PereiraL. M. (1990). Spatial concepts and balance performance: Motor learning in blind and visually impaired children. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 84, 109–110.
30.
TewesU. (1983). HAWIK-R: Hamburg-Wechsler-Intelligenztest für Kinder —Revision [Hamburg-Wechsler Intelligence Test for Children—Revised]. Berne, Switzerland: Hans Huber.
31.
ThelenE. (1995). Motor development: A new synthesis. American Psychologist, 50, 79–95.
32.
TroesterH., & BrambringM. (1993). Early motor development in blind infants. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 14, 83–106.
33.
TroesterH., HeckerW., & BrambringM. (1994). Longitudinal study of gross-motor development in blind infants and preschoolers. Early Child Development and Care, 104, 61–78.
34.
WarrenD. H. (1984). Blindness and early childhood development (2nd ed.). New York: American Foundation for the Blind.
35.
WarrenD. H. (1994). Blindness and children: An individual differences approach.New York: Cambridge University Press.
36.
WarrenD. H. (2000). Developmental perspectives. In SilverstoneB., LangM. A., RosenthalB. P., & FayeE. E. (Eds.), The Lighthouse handbook on vision impairment and vision rehabilitation (Vol. 1, pp. 325–337). New York: Oxford University Press.
37.
WebsterA., & RoeJ. (1998). Children with visual impairments: Social interaction, language and learning.London: Rout-ledge.
38.
ZwienerK., & Schmidt-KollmerE. (1982). Arbeitsanleitung “Zur periodischen Kontrolle von Leistung und Verhalten bei Kindern von 0; 1–3; 6 Jahren für die Krippenerzieherinnen” [Instructions for crib educators for periodic control of achievement and behavior in infants and children]. In Schmidt-KolmerE. (Ed.), Entwicklungskontrolle in der frühen Kindheit in ihrer Bedeutung für die gesundheitliche Betreuung und Erziehung: Hygiene in Kinderkollektiven [Early childhood development and implications for health care and education: Hygiene in child collectives]. (Vol. 7, pp. 13–89). Berlin: Volk und Gesundheit.
