Blind adults display language-specificity in their packaging and ordering of events in speech. These differences affect the representation of events in "co-speech gesture"--gesturing with speech--but not in "silent gesture"--gesturing without speech. Here we examine when in development blind children begin to show adult-like…

The results suggested that although blind children are generally competent in language, they utilize a number of linguistic strategies that differentiate them from sighted language users. (Author)

Intended for parents of blind children, the booklet presents guidelines regarding potential difficulties in blind children's language development. The first section focuses on repetitions and offers suggestions on dealing with and responding to those repetitions. Section 2 considers reasons for blind children's questions, including attention,…

This study investigated variables that might be associated with outcome differences in language development of 10 children (ages 10-20 months) with blindness or severe visual impairments, attending a developmental vision clinic in southern England. Subjects' early patterns of expressive language development were examined and related to observed…

Examination of the first 50 words of three blind children revealed that the early vocabulary paralleled that of seeing children in terms of age and speed of acquisition. Differences between the two groups were related to factors which were highly influenced by experience (including visual experience). (Author/CB)