Aging and New Vision Loss: Disruptions of the Here and Now

This paper treats time and space as two central perceptual categories that are disrupted when an older person confronts new vision loss. Qualitative research findings are presented, describing (1) the “invisible,” “unknowable,” and “hostile” relationships to objects and space often experienced by older persons with recent blindness; and (2) the consequent disruption of their previous ordering of time. Such challenges to these perceptual categories force newly blind older persons to question their ability to manipulate the environment and to participate in social relationships. Consequently, these perceptual disruptions make them vulnerable to both self-imposed tentativeness and externally generated labeling processes that identify them as incompetent.