Mothers' attributions of communication to prelinguistic behavior of developmentally delayed and mentally retarded infants.

Some investigators have suggested that mothers of severely handicapped infants do not attribute communication to their infants' behavior as frequently as do other mothers because such infants exhibit developmentally younger and more ambiguous behavior. This premise was tested, and several factors that may influence the frequency with which mothers attribute communication to their babies' behavior were examined. Sixteen mother-handicapped infant pairs participated. Results did not support the simple notion that mothers of severely handicapped babies attribute less communication than do mothers of mildly handicapped infants. Results suggest that the mothers' attributions of communication may be influenced by a number of factors besides the actual behavior emitted by the infants, factors that may allow the mothers to interact effectively with an even severely handicapped baby.