Psychosocial Development in a Visually Impaired Child

"Visual impairment" is a broad term encompassing many types of seeing problems. Virginia E. Bishop, Ph.D., writing for the Texas School of the Blind and Visually Impaired, states that visual impairment occurs when any part of the optical system malfunctions, is defective or diseased. The optical system includes not only the eyes but also parts of the brain that process vision. Today's advanced knowledge and understanding of severe visual impairment can give parents the ability to help the visually impaired child learn and make friends.

  1. Age of Onset

    • How old a child is when he loses his ability to see well has an impact on psychological development. Children who lose vision at 5 years of age or older maintain their visual field of reference, according to Illinois State University. Essentially, they can think like a seeing person and, therefore, may have an easier time relating to their seeing peers.

    Developmental Delays

    • Children born blind suffer developmental delays as a result of lack of visual cues in the environment. Seeing babies first attach to parents via eye contact and smiles. Chris Strickling at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired writes that the blind baby's attachment to his mother happens more slowly. Later, blind-from-birth children appear ambivalent and disinterested in playing with peers. His communication skills are blunted because he has no way to process facial expressions or other non-verbal visual cues.

    Adolescence

    • Difficulty making friends results in more isolation than the typical child or adolescent. This isolation results in feelings of loneliness. Illinois State University reports that visually impaired adolescents have a smaller circle of friends and date much less than their seeing peers. They also report more feelings of loneliness. While this is problematic, the good news is that visually impaired adolescents are at no greater risk for behavior problems. Depression and difficulties with relationships with parents also remain unchanged when compared to seeing peers.

    Language

    • Strickling explains that while blind babies typically start babbling earlier than seeing babies, the blind suffer delays in forming words and stringing them together. It takes a blind child longer to comprehend the context of language because he has no visual reference. The blind child asks fewer questions and tends to refrain from the use of adjectives. This demonstrates impaired cognitive and language development, which also affects his ability to communicate with friends.

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