Divergent development in blind sighted children in four developmental areas

This longitudinal study assessed the averaged ages at which 4 congenitally blind children during the age range, from 10-to-60 months acquired 107 developmental-skills and compared them with age-norms for sighted children. Medical and psychological records had confirmed that these-blind children were not any additionally impaired, and they had at least average intelligence test scores. The 107 selected skills represent four developmental domains: manual/daily living, gross-motor, social-interactive, and verbal. Three different methods of analysis (categorical, relative, and regression analysis) each confirmed that the developmental courses of the blind children in the four developmental domains was not equivalent with those of sighted children. Large differences between the blind and the sighted children were found in manual/daily living skills, and only small differences in verbal skills.