Mothers with Visual Impairments who are Raising Young Children

Abstract

Interviews with 42 visually impaired mothers found no significant relationship between the degree of visual impairment and the amount of advance preparation for child care tasks, trial-and-error learning, or initial reactions to the mothers’ pregnancy. The totally blind mothers thought that more information on childbirth and parenting was available than did the mothers with some residual vision. The mothers’ key concerns were their children's safety, the extra time needed to accommodate the impairment, transportation, and handling the reactions of others.