This article was a research project on the visually impaired. It was done by conducting personal interviews with those between 14-23 year of age. The questions all related to one of 4 topics; experience of confused self-perception, social rejection, stigmatization and physical abuse. The article made very clear that the blind lead very difficult lives and are faced with not only physical barriers, but also phycological and social barriers every day of there lives. It seems every relationship effects the visual impaired more than I would have thought. Those with sight seem to take for granted the amount of information we gather from our vision not just words. The article touched on the fact that the young adults, even those visually impaired, get much of there information regarding sexuality through their peers. This can sometimes lead to inappropriate affection.
In this article the researcher formulated questions about how the visually impaired views their life-world and what can be done to assist them to lead a meaningful life regardless of their visual impairment. During the interviews, the research emphasized the pain and sorrow a visually impaired adolescent goes through on a daily basis. During this research, those that are visual blind had feelings of being humanized, belittled, embarrassed, terrible inside, socially rejected, stigmatized by name calling and even physically abused. The emotional turmoil they each went through sounded horrible. The conclusion of the article was quite obvious. The researcher believed while to visually impaired have so much to offer to world, they need to be respected aoung their community. There needs to be some sort of intervention strategy so that as community, we can improve on there self-confidence, socialization, hope, trust and security.
While there were limitations to this research, the overall conclusion gathered on audiotapes from those being interviewed were proved to be enough information. The recommendations included parental involvement, teacher training, inclusion and educational research. Most of us get our self-confidence from family and friends, so it makes sense to start with the involvement of these people. The teachers obviously needed more thorough training to assist those with physical obstacles. We all have the right to be treated with respect and dignity, hence the conclusion of accommodating their mainstreaming into public schools. It seems the research is never really done, so more educational research is always necessary to better understand those with visual impairments.
This article was researched for young adults, however, I feel those feelings that were revealed go on to leave a mark on the rest of their lives. As a future dental hygienist, I feel that this article is speaking to everyone in the medical field. It is telling us to treat them as a loved one. Even though the researchers spoke with those who were 14-23, I feel the results still apply to us in the dental field. We need to be patient, kind, educated about each disability and treat all of our patients with the respect they deserve. Knowing how those who are visually impaired could possibly feel on the inside, leads me to treat each patient, especially those with this impairment, with compassion and respect.
"The Life-World of visually impaired adolescents"
Thahane, L. N., Myburgh, C. H., & Poggenpoel, M. (2005). The Life-World of Visually Impaired Adolescents: An Educational Guidance Perspective. Education, 125(3), 393.
Personal reflection:
While working as a dental assistant at my last office, I had the pleasure of assisting some amazing patients. Two patients in particular were legally blind. I had a special relationship with Leslie. She had a beautiful seeing eye dog names, Buddy. They were the kindest people I had ever met. Despite their visual disability, they had such a positive outlook on life. I had the pleasure of working with the whole family for four years. I became close to them. For the last two years, the other assistant and I joined them for the Mutt Strut downtown, a race to raise money. I knew that I wanted to do more research for this article because this family left such a lasting impression in my heart.
Additional Information:
http://www.firstgiving.com/CaliforniaCounciloftheBlind/mutt-strut-2012-sacramento Information on the Mutt Strut, 2012
http://www.firstgiving.com/CaliforniaCounciloftheBlind California Council of the Blind
*Two images on the left from Google Images. *Image on the right from http://www.firstgiving.com/CaliforniaCounciloftheBlind/mutt-strut-2012-sacramento