Resumen

FRANCA-FREITAS, Maria Luiza Pontes de  y  GIL, Maria Stella Coutinho de Alcântara. O desenvolvimento de crianças cegas e de crianças videntes. Rev. bras. educ. espec. [online]. 2012, vol.18, n.03, pp.507-526. ISSN 1413-6538.

The aim of this study was to present the overall development and development in specific areas (cognition, language, motor development, socialization and self-care) of a blind child who received constant and specialized stimulation with another blind child who received unsystematic stimulation and to compare blind children with sighted children. The study included two blind boys and two sighted boys up to six years old, enrolled in regular classrooms in two public schools. The instrument used for data collection was the Operationalized Portage Inventory. Data were analyzed based on the calculation of the regression line of the global development and of five specific areas. From these tests, the results indicated that the blind child who received constant and specialized stimulation during his early years presented performance similar to a sighted child in the school environment. Based on the assessments made in the performance of blind children, it was verified that unlike of blind child, who received constant and specialized stimulation and presented expected development for his age group, the other child, who received only unsystematic stimulation, presented marked developmental delays in all areas observed. One can assume that when there is only visual impairment, blind children who are properly stimulated from the earliest years of life may present developmental levels expected for their age. Even though the small sample doesn't allow for generalizations, in general the results of this study demonstrate important aspects of the development of blind children and of sighted children, contributing to enriching the literature on this topic.

Palabras clave : Special Education; Child Development; Visual Impairments.

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