Gunilla M. Preisler
PhD, Professor em
Born 1944, BA 1967, PhD in Psychology 1983, associated professor 1991, professor 1996. Since the mid 1970s I have been involved in studies of deaf and hard av hearing, of blind and severely visually impaired, and of multiply handicapped children in interaction with their parents, peers and teachers. A common denominator of the research has been the study of interpersonal interaction and the development of communication and language as well as the emotional and cognitive development of these children.
Other research areas have been psychological support systems for parents, psychological and educational support to teachers and other staff members working with children with functional disabilities. Blind children integrated in preschool settings with sighted children have been studied, as well as hard of hearing children integrated in groups of deaf children.
Among the last research projects were the following
• The psyhosocial development of deaf children with cochlear implants. In order to follow the development of the first generation of deaf children in the preschool age receiving an implant, a longitudinal qualitative study was started in 1995. 22 children have systematically been video observed in natural interactions in the home-setting with parents and in the preeschool setting with teachers and peers.
Interviews with parents, teachers, as well as with the members of the the cochlear teams (surgeons, neurologists, audiologists, psychologists, speech therapists etc) have been made, in order to collect information about their knowledge of consequences of deafness, their thoughts and feelings about cochlear implants etc.
When the children started school, 18 of the children were videoobserved in the classroom setting during a two year period. The parents, teachers and personal assistants were interviewed, as well as the oldest children in the study.
• Words and gestures and signs in the acquisition and development of language, a study was part of a larger European research program named The Origin of Man, Language and Languages (OMLL). Professor Virginia Volterra in Rome, Italy was the principal investigator. In Sweden, Ph D Eva Berglund had the corresponding position. The aim of the project was to better understand developmental processes at work during early stages of language acquisition and development, integrating different perspectives and methodologies.
The following persons have written their doctoral thesis in my research group
Berglund, Eva (1999). Early communicative and language development in Swedish children. Methods, results, clinical implications and prospects for the future.
Ek, Ulla (2000). Children with visual disorders. Cognitive development, developmental disorders and consequences for treatment and counselling.
Ahlström, Margareta (2000). Hörselskadade barn i kommunikation och samspel. (Hard of hearing children in communication and interaction.)
Thorén, Agneta (2002). Blinda barn och seende föräldrar i utveckling och kommunikation. (Blind children and sighted parents in development and communication).
Wilder, Jenny (2008). Proximal processes of children with profound multiple disabilities.
Fatorous-Bergman, Helena (2009). Emotional interplay and communication with patients diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Selected publications
Preisler, G. (1983). Deaf children in communication. Stockholm University: Department of Psychology (Doctoral thesis).
Preisler, G. (1991). Early patterns of interaction between blind infants and their mothers. Child: care, health and development, 17, 45 -52.
Preisler, G. (1993). A descriptive study of blind children in nurseries with sighted children. Child: care, health and development, 19, 65 -90.
Preisler, G. (1995). The development of communication in blind and in deaf infants - similarities and differences. Child: care, health and development , 21(2), 79 -110.
Preisler. G., & Ahlström, M. (1997). Sign language for hard of hearing children - a hindrance or a benefit for their development. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 12(4), 465-477.
Preisler, G., Ahlström, M., & Tvingstedt, A-L. (1997). The development of communication and language in deaf preschool children with cochlear implants. International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, 41, 263-272.
Preisler, G., & Ek, U. (1997). Den första tiden. Erfarenheter från en psykosocial uppföljningsstudie av barn med retinoblastom. (Experiences from a psychosocial follow-up study of children with retinoblastomia.) Socialmedicinsk Tidskrift, 74(5), 214-219.
Preisler, G., Tvingsted, A-L., & Ahlström, M. (2002). A psycho-social follow-up study of deaf preschool children with cochlear implants. Child: Care Health and Development, 28(5), 403-418.
Preisler, G., Tvingstedt, A-L., & Ahlström, M. (2005). Interviews with deaf children about their experiences using cochlear implants. American Annals of the Deaf, 150(3), 260-267.
Preisler, G. (2005). Development of communication in deafblind children. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 7(1), 41-62.
Preisler, G., & Capirci, O. (2005). A cross cultural study on the use of gestures and words in young children. Paper presented at the International Congress for the Study of of Child Language, Berlin, July 25-29, 2005. (Published in a conference Report).
Fatouros, H., Preisler, G., & Werbart, A. (2006). Communicating with patients with schizophrenia: Characteristics of well functioning and poorly functioning communication. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 121-146.
Preisler, G. (2006). The Psychosocial Development of Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants. In L. Komesaroff (Ed)., Surgical Consent: Bioethics and Cochlear Implantation, 120-136. Washington D.C.: Gallaudet University Press.
Preisler, G. (2008). Results from a psycho- social follow up study of Swedish school children with CI. In S. Blume, H. Knoors, G. Spaai and T. Van der Lem (Eds). Effecten van CI bij kinderen: een breed perspectief, 101-116. Deventer Holland; Van Tricht uitgeverij.
Preisler, G. (2009). The situation for the deaf in Sweden. In D. Moores and M. Miller (Eds.), Deafness Around the World, 231-244. Washington: Gallaudet University Press.
Preisler, G. (2010). Development of communication in children with sensory functional disabilities. In G. Bremner & T. Wachs (Eds.), Blackwell Handbook of Infant Development, 2nd Edition, 87-109. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Inc.
Fatouros Bergman, H., Spang, J., Werbart, A., Preisler, G., & Merten J. (2011). Interplay of gaze behaviour and facial affectivity in schizophrenia. Psychosis, 3(2), 148-150.
Preisler, G., & Midboe, M. (2011). Tvåspråkighet bäst om unga med Koklea implantat själva får välja. Intervjustudie om upplevelsen av delaktighet i socialt samspel. Läkartidningen, 20(108), 2649-2651. (The Medical Journal)
Find Preisler's abstracts in the Annual Report database.
