Crianças e suas mães: o olhar enquanto modalidade comunicativa entre mãe e filho

Abstract

The object of this investigation was to make a comparative study of the non-verbal interaction betweenn mother and child with normal and Down Syndrome subjects. The communicate modality selected was the eye contact. Five normal and five Down Syndrome children with ages varying between 12 to 30 months composed the sample of subjects. The communicate signal of the dyads and the responsivity deggree of the members were studied from two situations of structured play, composed by: a collection of wood cubes (situation I) and a collection of doll mobile for the female subjects and a miniature of a service station for the male subjects (situation II). The results showed a major performance independence by the normal group. The Down Syndrome group demanded not oniy a major number of aids from theír mothers, but also he didn't play adequately in the situation II. The mothers of the Down Syndrome group stablished eye contact with their children more quickly than the normal group. Another important conclusion of this study was that the change of situation determined changes of the performance in the two groups.