Living with Low Vision: Disability, Inclusion, and Advocacy

Understanding Low Vision

Low vision is a specific designation describing people who have a clinically significant loss of visual acuity but who still retain some degree of vision. This remaining vision is not correctable even with strong glasses or contact lenses and requires accommodations such as higher levels of lighting or enlarged print (How are the terms, 2022). Low vision can take the form of nearsightedness (myopia) or farsightedness (hyperopia), much like less severe forms of vision limitation (How are the terms, 2022). A person's vision limitations can also be classified according to levels of visual acuity, from partially sighted to legally blind to total blindness.

Partially sighted students or employees can often be accommodated with larger print or visual aids. Legally blind individuals have 20/200 vision (or worse) in their better eye, or a limited field of vision of less than 20 degrees at its widest point, and may require more substantial accommodations (How are the terms, 2022). While partially sighted or legally blind individuals may retain some functional vision, totally blind individuals do not. Totally blind persons usually rely upon Braille, raised-line drawings, audiobooks, or other accessible media to fully participate in a classroom or employment setting (How are the terms, 2022).

Encounter: Interview with Carrie

Carrie (a pseudonym) is a student with low vision currently in her sophomore year of college. She is classified as having low vision, rather than being legally or fully blind. According to Carrie, she never learned Braille, which makes her somewhat sad. She has expressed anxiety about potentially worsening vision as she ages and says she might consider trying to learn it in the future. For now, she makes do with audiobooks, large print on her disability-friendly laptop or Kindle, and other accommodations.

Although Carrie requires certain accommodations to function fully in a school environment, she is academically talented and maintains a high GPA. She also works out at the gym regularly. According to the literature, some visually impaired people struggle with exercising safely, which can limit physical fitness, coordination, and healthy physical development (Lieberman et al., 2021). Carrie said that she had found exercising to be a source of stress relief. Although she did not need assistance navigating the gym safely despite her limited vision, she had joined a campus running group so she could run around the area safely. She does not feel physically limited by her disability and said she was even more determined to maintain good physical health.

Unfortunately, Carrie said she had experienced discrimination related to her disability — and, notably, this came from within the classroom. Teachers had told her in the past that they did not feel qualified or able to make reasonable accommodations for some of her needs, such as providing access to large-print or audio versions of certain readings. She said this made her feel more limited in her choice of major. Although she had been deciding between studying education and biology, she was concerned that professors would not follow college requirements for students with disabilities in practice. She recognized that she would need additional support to flourish in labs or in courses with substantial hands-on or visual components.

Legal Protections and Their Limits

Although the federal law the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) "guarantees a free and appropriate education" for secondary school students, "there is no legal requirement for postsecondary institutions to provide a free and appropriate education for students with disabilities" (Smith, 2019, par. 2). In general, students like Carrie often struggle to know how to request accommodations. An article for educators by Smith (2019) offers guidelines for students about how to request academic accommodations and how to demonstrate that those accommodations are both necessary and reasonable for the student to function and flourish in the classroom. However, according to Carrie, unspoken prejudices and assumptions about what disabled persons cannot do are not always easily overcome.

Some teachers resent the additional effort required to make accommodations in an already demanding workday. Even highly educated professors do not necessarily appreciate the differences in degree of disability — for example, between Carrie's low vision and the needs of someone who is totally blind. For the interview conducted for this paper, questions were emailed in large print to Carrie, something one might not immediately think was possible. Carrie said she often makes use of large fonts or text-to-speech tools. The two of us also spoke briefly by phone to supplement the written interview.

References

How are the terms low vision, visually impaired, and blind defined? (2022, May 24). DO-IT: Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology.

Lieberman, L. J., Ericson, K., Lepore-Stevens, M., & Wolffe, K. (2021). The expanded core curriculum areas experienced by campers during camp abilities: A qualitative study. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 115(1), 28–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X20987021

Rosback, M., & Logan, S. (2022, February 24). Fewer than half of K-12 PE teachers use high-quality instruction with disabled students, study finds. Oregon State Today. https://today.oregonstate.edu/news/fewer-half-k-12-pe-teachers-use-high-quality-instruction-disabled-students-study-finds

Smith, L. (2019, August 20). Helping students with disabilities understand accommodations in college. Edutopia.