Social communicative variation in 1-3-year-olds with severe visual impairment

Area of Science:

• Developmental psychology
• Pediatric audiology
• Ophthalmology

Background:

• Social communication skills are crucial for early development.
• Children with visual impairment (VI) are at higher risk for social communication challenges.
• Limited tools exist to identify at-risk children or vulnerable social aspects in young children with VI.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a parent interview tool, the Social Communication Interview for young children with visual impairment (SOCI-VI), for assessing social communication in young children with VI.
• To identify specific social communication domains most affected in children with VI.

Main Methods:

• Developed and tested the 35-item SOCI-VI with 55 parents of children (mean age 22 months) with profound VI, severe VI, and normal vision.
• Assessed inter-rater and test-retest reliability of the SOCI-VI.
• Administered a reduced 13-item version (SOCI-VI 13) to a subgroup and assessed internal consistency and concurrent validity with the Vineland adaptation questionnaire.

Main Results:

• The 35-item SOCI-VI demonstrated adequate reliability.
• Thirteen items differentiated between vision groups.
• Children with profound VI scored significantly lower on the SOCI-VI 13, especially in joint attention, compared to sighted children.
• The SOCI-VI 13 showed good internal consistency and concurrent validity.

Conclusions:

• The SOCI-VI is a reliable and valid tool for assessing early social communication in young children with VI.
• Joint attention appears to be a particularly vulnerable area for children with profound VI.
• The SOCI-VI provides valuable preliminary data for clinical research and practice.