Social experiences of the visually impaired: Perceived support, discrimination and stereotypes

Pages: 1429-1434
Alphonsa Jose K. and Rejoyson Thangal (Department of Applied Psychology, Pondicherry University, Kalapet, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu)
Shinto Thomas (Department of Psychology, Christ (Deemed to be University) Bengaluru, Karnataka)

Among 37 million blind people across the globe, a half of them, nearly 15 million are Indian nationals, which is an alarming number. And visual impairment is not just a physical limitation; it has a lot of social and psychological aspects. It is important to consider these aspects too in the researches. Present study deals with the social experiences of the visually impaired adults in India on the areas of perceived support, stereotypes, and discrimination. It employed an in depth interview method using semi-structured, open ended questions to explore the social experiences of twenty five visually impaired adults from the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, of India. Obtained data were analyzed using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results of this study indicate that the social experience of the visually impaired fall mainly into two different themes; experiences of social support and experiences of discrimination. Social support experiences consist of positive social support, lack of support and negative social support. Results also point out that people experience discrimination in various fields of social life including; accessing public transport, employment, education, and marriage and partner selection. It gives a voice to the experiences and expectations of adults with a visual impairment in a country that has almost half of the world’s adults with visual impairments. Further discusses the preferred changes in the social and service systems for a better inclusive, disable friendly society.