Variant California Pyschological Inventory and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory scale scores may not necessarily reflect psychopathology, but rather may be indicative of the unique adaptive processes of persons who experienced early visual impairment. (Author)

The study of 10 congenitally blind and 10 sighted children (ages 3 through 9) indicated that preoperational thought patterns of nominal realism remain longer for blind than for sighted children indicating a delay in (Piagetian) cognitive development of congenitally blind children and their need for appropriate cognitive and linguistic experiences.…

The concepts of two totally blind children, ages four and five, concerning how people see, were evaluated by asking them to show objects to either sighted people or each other. Their performance indicated they understood that blind people need to feel objects but sighted persons do not. (Author/DB)

The article reports two phases of a study that, through use of Piagetian reasoning assessments, indicated significant delays in the cognitive development of 75 congenitally blind students (6 to 18 years) compared to 75 sighted Ss. Developmentally appropriate reasoning experiences produced equivalent performance of blind Ss to that of the sighted…

The structure of spatial representation in four congenitally and three adventitiously blind 11-year-old children was examined by means of pointing, mapping, drawing, and spatial reasoning on two simple routes over repeated trials. (Author)

The study explored ways in which congenitally blind children group objects and words, revealing their level of cognitive development. Differences in patterns of response as a function of age and type of tasks are presented, and the implications of these findings for the education of this population are discussed. (Author/CL)

The association of hearing loss and retinitis pigmentosa has been generally recognized as the genetic disorder of Usher's syndrome. The article reviews findings of this syndrome and suggests strategies for dealing with the clinical and psychological problems displayed by Usher's syndrome patients. (Author/SW)

Meta-analysis of the literature (47 studies) comparing spatial task performance of blind and sighted subjects found that early onset (of blindness) groups generally showed poorer performance than either the late onset or the sighted groups. (Author/DB)

Physical prompts and physical and social reinforcement within a game format helped to reduce head droop in a three-year-old congenitally visually impaired child. Generalization to untrained settings and a high level of maintenance were also revealed. (CL)

Findings of the comparison of spatial role taking, social role taking, and referential communication in 56 congenitally visually impaired and sighted children (seven to nine years old) revealed that visually impaired Ss need not differ from sighted Ss in cognitive social functioning if they have had significant verbal interaction with others.…

A counselor blind from birth describes personal difficulties in fully understanding the experience of clients who are adventitiously blind. Congenitally blind counselors are urged to recognize that adaptive methods cannot compensate for the panoramic view of the environment provided by vision and that recently blinded individuals need to deal with…

A study involving 23 blind students (6-12 years old) revealed that age at onset of blindness did not appear to be critical in mastery of space concepts. One-third of the Ss exhibited atypical spatial development, g mastering relative positions of left and right before mirror-image orientation. (Author/CL)

Spatial memory for configurations was studied in 36 congenitally blind, late-blinded, and sighted adults. (Author/DLS)

Eight congenitally blind children (ages 6-11), individually matched with 8 sighted children (ages 4-10), were tested for their ability to identify vocal expressions of emotion and the sounds of a range of nonemotional objects. They had specific difficulty recognizing emotions according to vocal qualities. (Author/DB)

Imagery and visualization, both voluntary and involuntary, can be used therapeutically in the adaptation processes of congenitally and adventitiously blind persons. Imagery and visualization can help clients make psychosocial changes necessary to improve mental attitudes and to return to the mainstream. (Author/JDD)