Understanding the Emotional Needs of Children Who Are Blind

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Understanding the Emotional Needs of Children Who Are Blind
According to study by Trevarthen & Aitken (2001) it is clear that the emotional development of young children who are not able to see (blind) is actually at risk because of various reasons, this includes the hindrance of the child to share and respond to others which is the major reason that affects the child`s early social experience.
There were two kinds of research conducted to find ways in which blindness do affect the mother-child relationship. The two cases were chosen because of their contradiction. Within these two cases, there were highlighting the characteristics of maternal use and the availability of personal references. The first case involved Matt and his mother, where the mother made comments occasionally on Matt and what he was exactly doing. The following were some of the attributes found: sensitivity: -this one rated matt`s mother as generally sensitive which meant that she was able to read and respond hastily to Matt`s cues. She was warm and responsive to Matt`s initiatives most of the times and responsive to his emotional cues that included crying at his father`s departure (Trevarthen & Aitken, 2001).
The second aspect was the parental structuring: -much of this interaction depicted inconsistent structuring that is apparently following Matt`s lead but not matching comments to what Matt was actually saying and doing. Thirdly there was parental non-intrusiveness:- whereby Matt`s mother was non-intrusive. Finally there is parental hostility which meant that Matt`s mother showed no signs of either covert or overt hostility (Trevarthen & Aitken, 2001).
The second case of Amy`s mother showed that there was parental structuring, parental non-intrusiveness, parental hostility, child responsiveness and child involvement.
Finally the two cases exemplify differences in parental responses to children`s blindn...