Living with blindness: unravelling contextualised lived experiences of James and his networks.

Abstract\nPoints of interestBlindness (in)directly affects all aspects of daily life and participation in society. Living with a visual impairment can be mapped in terms of the intra-actions between blindness and an individual’s networks. This study conceptualised visual impairment in the context of James and his different networks across his lifespan in an attempt to understand the contextualised and complex meaning of his disability. The lived experiences of James and his networks were unravelled, and their perspectives revealed two main encounters: decisions and processes on (inclusive) education and connecting with others. James and his networks discussed how he succeeded in regular education and how he adhered to higher educational norms. The narratives highlighted the pressure to ‘pass’, to have a space to belong in social spheres, and to function within social networks. The concept of ‘assemblage’, the entangled gathering of embodiment and relationalities, was helpful in unravelling the complex and contextual conceptualisations of blindness in James’ lived experiences.This article presents a personal narrative of the experiences of James, his family, and his friends in relation to blindness.This study’s perspective fundamentally assumes that everyone, including people with disabilities, is embedded in several networks of human and non-human elements.Disability is not an individual condition; rather, it is something relational and contextual. We want to understand the complexities of the participants’ experiences.In James’ networks, educational development in regular education is identified as a life goal that requires the input of everyone and everything.For living blindness, James and his networks also identified the relevance of being socially embedded and bonding with peers and friends.This article presents a personal narrative of the experiences of James, his family, and his friends in relation to blindness.This study’s perspective fundamentally assumes that everyone, including people with disabilities, is embedded in several networks of human and non-human elements.Disability is not an individual condition; rather, it is something relational and contextual. We want to understand the complexities of the participants’ experiences.In James’ networks, educational development in regular education is identified as a life goal that requires the input of everyone and everything.For living blindness, James and his networks also identified the relevance of being socially embedded and bonding with peers and friends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]