Psychosomatic Medicine 26:14-19 (1964)
© 1964 American Psychosomatic Society

Consciousness: Altered Levels in Blind Retarded Children

¹ McLean Hospital, Belmont, Mass

A phenomenologic study of the abnormal motor activity ("blindisms") of 40 retarded blind children suggested a dichotomous classification of this behavior. These 2 categories of "blindisms" were descriptively designated as "alerting" and "withdrawal." A subsequent electroencephalographic pilot study of 4 of these children confirmed the impressions of the phenomenologic study and provided further neurophysiological information. The electroencephalographic data suggested a parallel between these categories of "blindisms" and altered levels of consciousness. The temporal relation observed in this study suggests that "blindisms" may induce physiologic changes in the level of consciousness. A further hypothesis is offered; namely, that alterations in levels of consciousness directly affect the capacity to experience objective reality, and thus "blindisms" may play an important part in the regulation of the afflicted child's relation to reality.

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