Because blind children cannot rely on many cues that sighted children use when making judgments about their own and other people's behavior, the authors conducted an exploratory study on blind children's ability to differentiate between normal and two disordered behaviors and their attitudes toward the behaviors. Twelve congenitally, totally blind children in three age groups (5-8, 9-12, 13-17) were selected from public schools in New Jersey. After the children heard three stories describing normal, withdrawn, and antisocial behavior, they were asked two sets of questions related to factors such as causality, changeability, similarity, desirability, assertiveness, and well-being. The authors found that age did not seem to be an important factor either in the children's ability to differentiate between the behaviors or in the causes the children attributed to them.
Children's Perceptions of Vulnerability to Illness and Accidents: An Exploratory Study