Understanding Visual Disabilities Through Interactions: An Analysis of Sighted Students' Narratives of Their Experiences in Interactions With Students With Visual Disabilities

The purpose of the present study was to examine how the structure of high school students’ understanding of visual disabilities was affected by interactions with students who had visual disabilities and collaborative learning with them. An interschool interaction between a high school for students with visual disabilities and a standard high school was videotaped, and stimulated-recall interviews were conducted with 13 sighted students who had participated in the interaction. Target segments of the interviews were coded in 3 categories: (a) type of activity, (b) process of understanding, and (c) type of understanding, after which a multiple correspondence analysis was conducted. The analysis revealed 3 dimensions that informed the structure of understanding visual disabilities through interactions: (a) General ― Particular, (b) Knowledge and information ― Interpretation, and (c) Focus on others ― Focus on self. When a perception map consisting of the fırst two of these dimensions was interpreted, 4 types of understanding of visual disabilities were extracted: (a) conceptual understanding of disabilities, (b) objective understanding of disabilities, (c) relational understanding of disabilities, and (d) reflectional understanding of disabilities. The discussion suggests that the type of understanding may differ according to the content of the interactive activities. The present research also suggests that characteristics of the structure of understanding visual disabilities through interactions may be influenced by the developmental stage of the sighted students who participate.