The play behaviour of young blind children and its relationship to developmental stages

Abstract

Monthly observations made of the play behaviour of 16 young blind children over an 18 month period revealed a number of significant correlations between play categories and the Reynell-Zinkin Developmental Scales. The main findings show that the children who had high scores on all the developmental scales also had a high involvement in 'fantasy' play; however our observations show children as young as 18 months, prompted by older children, exhibiting 'pretend' play in their symbolic use of language and imitation but not in symbolic use of objects, suggesting that the reported delays in symbolic play in blind children may not be so much delays as differences. Children with low scores on language and sensory motor understanding spent more time in exploratory play. It is suggested that a period of intense exploration may be a necessary precursor to development in these areas. Intervention by encouraging and assisting exploratory play may maximise its benefits.