This study examined the influence of several variables (maternal behaviors, home environment, and family's socioeconomic status) on the development of young visually impaired children. Specifically, 15 mother-child dyads were observed in their homes during daily routines at two points in time: when the children were aged 20–36 months and about one year later. Overall, the study found that maternal behaviors had more of an impact on the children's development at Time 1 than did the other variables, but at Time 2, the home environment appeared to have a greater influence.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BeckwithL. (1990). Adaptive and maladaptive parenting. Implications for intervention. In MeiselsS.J., ShonkoffJ.P. (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (pp. 53–77). New York: Cambridge University Press.
2.
BeeH.L., BarnardK.E., EyresS.J., GrayC.A., HammondM.A., SpietzA.L., SnyderC., & ClarkB. (1982). Prediction of IQ and language skill from perinatal status, child performance, family characteristics, and mother-infant interaction.Child Development, 53, 1134–1156.
3.
BradleyR.H., & CaldwellB.M. (1976). Early home environment and changes in mental test performance in children from 6 to 36 months.Developmental Psychology, 12(2), 93–97.
4.
BradleyR.H., & CaldwellB.M. (1984). The relation of infants’ home environments to achievement test performance in first grade: A follow-up study.Child Development, 55, 803–809.
5.
BradleyR.H., CaldwellB.M., RockS.L., BrisbyJ.A., & HarrisP.T. (1987). Addendum to HOME manual: Use of the HOME inventory with children with handicaps.Little Rock: University of Arkansas, Center for Research on Teaching and Learning.
6.
BremerD.C. (1985). Parent-infant communication strategies. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California at Berkeley.
7.
CowenE.L., UnderbergR.P., VerrilloR.T., & BenhamF.G. (1961). Adjustment to visual disability in adolescence.New York: American Foundation of the Blind.
8.
CrawleyS.B., & SpikerD. (1983). Mother-child interactions involving two-year olds with Down syndrome: A look at individual differences.Child Development, 54, 1312–1323.
9.
Dote-KwanJ. (1991). The relationship between early experiences and the development of young children with visual impairments. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California at Los Angeles.
10.
Dote-KwanJ. (1995). Impact of mothers’ interactions on the development of their young visually impaired children.Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 89, 46–58.
11.
Dote-KwanJ., & HughesM. (1994). The home environments of young blind children.Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 88, 31–42.
12.
FraibergS. (1974). Blind infants and their mothers: An examination of the sign system. In LewisM., & RosenblumL.S. (Eds.), The effect of the infant on its caregiver (pp. 215–232). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
13.
FraibergS. (1977). Insights from the blind.New York: Basic Books.
14.
HallahanD.P., & KauffmanJ.M. (1991). Exceptional children: Introduction to special education (5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
15.
HallenbeckJ. (1954). Two essential factors in the development of young blind children.New Outlook for the Blind, 48, 308–315.
16.
HechtB.F., Dote-KwanJ., & HodgsonC. (1990, April). Mothers’ judgments of the linguistic abilities of children with developmental delays. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Boston.
17.
HollingsheadA.B. (1975). Four factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript. Department of Sociology, Yale UniversityNew Haven, CT.
18.
ImamuraS. (1965). Mother and blind child: The influence of child-rearing practices on the behavior of preschool blind children.New York: American Foundation for the Blind.
19.
KekelisL.S., & AndersenE.S. (1984). Family communication styles and language development.Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 78, 54–65.
20.
KoestlerF. (1976). The unseen minority: A social history of blindness in the United States.New York: David McKay.
21.
LaosaL.M. (1982). Families as facilitators of children's intellectual development at 3 years of age: A causal analysis. In LaosaL.M., & SigelI.E. (Eds.), Families as learning environments for children (pp. 1–45). New York: Plenum Press.
22.
MaxfieldK.E., & BuchholzS. (1957). A social maturity scale for blind preschool children: A guide to its use.New York: American Foundation for the Blind.
23.
ReynellJ. (1979). The Reynell-Zinkin Scales: Developmental scales for young visually handicapped children—Part 1: Mental development.Chicago: Stoelting.
24.
RogersS.J., & PuchalskiC.B. (1984). Social characteristics of visually impaired infants’ play.Topics in Early Childhood Special Education, 3, 52–56.
25.
RogowS.M. (1984, April). Intention, interaction, and language development in blind and visually impaired developmentally delayed young children. Paper presented at the 62nd annual convention of the Council for Exceptional Children, Washington, DC.
26.
RowlandC. (1984). Preverbal communication of blind infants and their mothers.Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 78, 297–302.
27.
SommersV.S. (1944). The influence of parental attitudes and social environment on the personality development of the adolescent blind.New York: American Foundation for the Blind.
28.
TaitP. (1972). The effect of circumstantial rejection on infant behavior.New Outlook for the Blind, 66, 139–151.
29.
UrwinC. (1984). Language for absent things: Learning from visually handicapped children.Topics in Language Disorders, 4, 24–37.
30.
VygotskyL.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
31.
WarrenD.H. (1994). Blindness and children: An individual differences approach.New York: Cambridge University Press.