Conversational Interactions between Mothers and their Infants who are Congenitally Blind, Have Low Vision, or are Sighted

This study of the conversational interactions of three mothers and their infants—one who was sighted, one with low vision, and one who was congenitally blind—found similarities between the sighted and low vision dyads. However, the mother of the blind infant talked more and used more directives, and her directives contained more descriptions and were more likely to occur in clusters. The complex nature of directives and their adaptive role with infants who are blind are discussed.