TY - JOUR
T1 - “Everyone Thought My Library Assistant was My Mum”. Visually Impaired and Blind Students’ Experiences of Interactions with Support and Other Staff in Higher Education
AU - Croft, Emma
PY - 2022/12/1
Y1 - 2022/12/1
N2 - This article explores visually impaired (vi) and blind students’ experiences of support as an undergraduate student in UK higher education (he) by focusing specifically on relationships and interactions between vi and blind students and support staff within Higher Education. Participants within this research show how their experiences highlight an uneven and often exclusionary Higher Education landscape. Constructions of disability and impairment show a complex relationship between support provision as it is offered and experienced. The findings overall suggest the experience of support is more than the placing together of student and support worker and concerns the management of this relationship, particularly around underlying assumptions about being vi. Support is not unnecessary or unwelcome, instead, the complexity of the relationship, the additional work associated with support experienced by these students, combine to shape academic experience.
AB - This article explores visually impaired (vi) and blind students’ experiences of support as an undergraduate student in UK higher education (he) by focusing specifically on relationships and interactions between vi and blind students and support staff within Higher Education. Participants within this research show how their experiences highlight an uneven and often exclusionary Higher Education landscape. Constructions of disability and impairment show a complex relationship between support provision as it is offered and experienced. The findings overall suggest the experience of support is more than the placing together of student and support worker and concerns the management of this relationship, particularly around underlying assumptions about being vi. Support is not unnecessary or unwelcome, instead, the complexity of the relationship, the additional work associated with support experienced by these students, combine to shape academic experience.
KW - visual impairment
KW - higher education
KW - disability
KW - ableism
U2 - 10.1163/25888803-bja10004
DO - 10.1163/25888803-bja10004
M3 - Article
VL - 2
SP - 136
EP - 157
JO - Journal of Disability Studies in Education
JF - Journal of Disability Studies in Education
SN - 2588-879X
IS - 2
ER -