FLICKR, MADGERLYLearning to make eye contact and follow other peoples’ gazes are important milestones for babies. So how does having a blind parent affect a child’s early development? A study comparing babies with blind mothers to babies with sighted parents showed no deficits and even indicated that infants of blind mothers were advanced in their first year of life, ScienceNOW reported.
The study, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B last week (April 10), followed five children born to blind mothers and 51 children born to sighted parents from infancy to toddlerhood. The blind mothers were all primary caregivers for their children, and one of the children had a sight-impaired father as well.
The researchers observed the children during three age windows, 6 to 10 months, 12 to 15 months, and 24 to 47 months. The scientists tested the children’s tendency to focus on eyes in videos of faces and their ability to follow an actor’s gaze as she looked at various objects. The researchers also rated the babies using a test for autistic behaviors and performed various tests of cognitive development and communication.
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