This study investigated lexical extension and overextension by three blind children, ages 1;8, 2;1 and 2;5, who had vocabularies of at least 50 words but did not yet produce two-word utterances. Theories of semantic development take it for granted that vision provides the child with access to a great deal of the information necessary for the development of meaning, including much of the knowledge about size, shape, and movement of referents. Through vision, the child is able to form concepts on which word meaning is based, and extend the domain of application of words from original referents by recognizing other instances of that word. Despite this, surprisingly little research has focused on semantic development by blind children. Results of the few relevant studies indicate that blind children rarely extend or overextend their words, and attribute this inability to either (1) a lack of experience with other similar referents, or (2) an inability to form categories that underlie lexical extension and overextension. The blind children were given objects to name during a play session. These objects were (1) new examples of an item the child already named, providing opportunity for the child to extend known words to proper, novel referents, or (2) members of a different nominal category, but differing from an item the child already named in one or two criterial features, thus providing opportunity for the child to overextend. Data on spontaneous extension and overextension was also collected through analysis of utterances produced during experimental sessions and reported in parental diaries. Results indicated that all children extended and overextended their words, both spontaneously and in experiments; visual impairment did not prevent the children from recognizing other exemplars of a referent, or from applying words they knew to objects similar to original referents but, on the basis of criterial features, members of other nominal categories. Performance during two sorting tasks indicated that the children did not have impaired ability to form categories—all three children displayed classificatory behaviour during the sorting activities. / Medicine, Faculty of / Audiology and Speech Sciences, School of / Graduate

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Children’s interaction with their caregivers is severely restricted by blindness, but evidence of effects on their early language development is controversial. This seems partly due to the difficulties inherent in studying this low-incidence disability and partly to conflicting views of early language development and the role of maternal input. The defined focus area of my research, reviewed in the overarching statement in this portfolio, is the investigation of early interaction and how blindness affects maternal input, emotional availability, and children’s early word use. The broader context of my work is early language development for all children. At the centre of my studies are four mother-child dyads who were studied from the time the children were 18-19 months old and just beginning to use words, and then followed through until around the time of the children’s second birthday. The studies show that these mothers were no more directive than mothers whose children were sighted, but that they made few adaptations to their children’s particular needs for frequent and relevant information about the world around them. This portfolio provides an overarching statement of issues and research findings from studies of maternal interaction with young children who are blind, within the context of issues in early language development and early intervention. To represent the scope of my work, the examples of my refereed publications include those that are research-based as well as those that are more generally related to professional practice. This more general writing for teachers and caregivers provides an essential link between theory and practice. The studies of children with blindness inform, and have been informed by, current understanding of what is significant in early development for all children. Thus the significance of the work presented lies not only in the contribution to the research literature, but also in the potential for informing intervention practice and timely support for families. / Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / Advisor: Dr. Sandra Lewis, Florida State University, College of Education, Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling Services. Title and description from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 22, 2004). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2004. / "UMI number: 3156241." Abstract. Includes bibliographical references.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:28:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2011-08-25Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:36:57Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 kamisaki_ms_me_bauru.pdf: 1965161 bytes, checksum: fdc98995bcad70bb38d9defceda13104 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O brinquedo é um objeto lúdico que a criança utiliza durante boa parte da sua infância, proporcionando-lhe um desenvolvimento por meio de desafios e descobertas, representando, portanto, um elo importantíssimo entre a criança e o aprendizado. O designer tem um papel fundamental quando projeta um brinquedo. Ele deve ter a consciência de que desenvolve uma ferramenta de auxilio na formação de uma mentalidade dinâmica e criativa, além de construir um artefato que transmita prazer, alegria e satisfação. Entretanto, quando a criança não enxerga o produto, torna-se complexa a maneira de compreender como se projetar um brinquedo para este tipo de usuário. É nesta questão que se atem este trabalho, que visa relacionar três pontos: o design de brinquedos e a deficiência visual; com o intuito de apontar características que sejam fundamentais na elaboração de um projeto de brinquedos para crianças não videntes. Desta forma, espera-se que esta pesquisa sirva como parâmetro para futuros projetos de brinquedos / Toy is a playful object that the child uses during a big part of the childhood, providing the child a growth through challanges and discoreries, representing a very important link between the child and learning. The designer has an important role when designing a toy. He must be aware that the develops a helping tool in the formation of a creative and dynamic mentality and besides creating an article that shows pleasure, happiness and satisfaction. However, when the child cannot see the product, the way of understanding how to design a toy for this kind of user becomes complex. That is the thing this jobs is focused on, the aim to relate three points: the universal design, toys design, and sight deficiency in order to help show characteristics that are basic to elaborate of toys project to kids that cannot see. By doing this we hope that this research can be helpful as exemple to future toys projects