81

As part of the PILE project carried out at the Necker Hospital for Sick Children and in conjunction with SAPPH (part of the Institute of Childcare of Paris) between September 2004 and June 2011 we conducted a study on mother-child bonds when the mother has a visual impairment. A prospective and a longitudinal follow-up of twelve mother-baby dyads where the mother was visually impaired was conducted from when the baby was three months old up until he/she was aged four. The tools used for this research included an analysis of early interactions carried out at three, six, nine, and fifteen months using Ruth Feldman’s CIB (1997), which was used to evaluate, among other things, maternal sensitivity as well as the quality of mother-baby interactions. The results show that the quality of the mothers’ sensitivity is not as good as that of mothers in a control group, particularly because some of the baby’s signals are not detected or because these mothers are slower to respond when they perceive them. Nonetheless, we can highlight that these visually-impaired mothers demonstrate a greater use of affectionate touching and that their children take more initiative to establish communication. In this context of maternal visual impairment, the babies are confronted with different interactive styles. This is mostly marked by a difference between the rhythm of the visually-impaired mother and of others with no such impairment, something that may cause confusion in these children’s access to intersubjectivity. The results of our study also show the need to accompany and support these mothers in the creation of their bonds with their children.