Eye Rubbing in Blind Children: Application of a Sensory Deprivation Model

Abstract

Eye rubbing is one of the stereotyped behaviors occurring in blind children and is of concern to those who work toward the acceptance and adjustment of the blind in the sighted world. It is relevant to other issues, such as child development, sensory deprivation, and “critical periods.” Confirmatory evidence for hypotheses drawn from sensory and social deprivation studies was found; children with capacity for only minimal, unpatterned visual input were rated significantly higher in eye rubbing than either the totally blind or those with more usable, patterned vision. An additional finding, that similar significant differences persisted but in diminished degree in older children compared to younger, was related to both training effects and “critical period” concepts.