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Brilliance and Resilience: A New Perspective to the
Challenges, Practices and Needs of University Students
with Visual Impairments in India
Tigmanshu Bhatnagar1, 2[0000-0001-5192-3495], Vikas Upadhyay3[0000-0003-4160-8445], PV
Madhusudhan Rao4[0000-0002-4574-7883], Nicolai Marquardt1,5[0000-0002-5473-2448], Mark
Miodownik6[0000-0003-0931-3030] and Catherine Holloway1,2[0000-0001-7843-232X]
1 UCL Interaction Centre, University College London, London WC1E6EA, UK
(t.bhatnagar.18, n.marquardt, c.holloway)@ucl.ac.uk
2 Global Disability Innovation Hub, London E20 2AF, UK
3 School of Information Technology, IIT Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India
vikas.upadhyay@cse.iitd.ac.in
4 Department of Design, IIT Delhi, New Delhi 110016, India
pvmrao@design.iitd.ac.in
5 Microsoft Research, Redmond 98052, USA
6 UCL Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E7JE, UK
m.miodownik@ucl.ac.uk
Abstract. People with visual impairments in India have low literacy rates and
only a few pursue higher education at the country's top universities. We present
an insight into the educational experiences of these few university students with
visual impairment based on the Frame of Interdependence. We found that
educational challenges arise when interdependence fails due to restricted or
misfitted assistance from social relations and ableist social interactions. Analysis
of practices to overcome these challenges from the lens of Resilience Theory
revealed that students develop a sense of self-confidence through successful
academic experiences, internalise external stressors into intrinsic motivation, and
find ways to navigate inaccessibility with the available social resources. In
addition, students express the need to increase the integration of assistive
technologies in education and facilitate social integration. Finally, we discuss the
implications of these findings for equitable and inclusive education practices.
Keywords: Visual Impairment, Education, Assistive Technologies, Global
South, Interdependence, Resilience, Interview Study
1 Introduction
Nearly a quarter of a million children with visual impairments live in India, where
visual impairment (VI) is one of the most feared health problems [1]. Children born
with a visual impairment who lose sight at a young age face emotional, social, and
economic challenges over a lifetime [2]. The implementation and utilisation of public
health programs and overall socioeconomic development have decreased the
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prevalence of childhood visual impairment in India [3]. On the one hand, it is
imperative to reduce vision loss in children by managing preventable and treatable
visual impairment. At the same time, it is important to support children with visual
impairments to become independent, integrated and contributing individuals to their
society.
Education is the single greatest tool for achieving social justice and equality. But the
literacy rate for students with visual impairments (SVIs) in India is significantly lower
than the overall literacy rate of the country [4]. Despite having one of the most
progressive policy frameworks in the Global South towards the education of people
with disabilities, there remain considerable gaps in implementation. Issues still need to
be addressed in providing science and math education, teacher support and training,
braille book access, assistive technologies, tactile displays, and training for screen
readers. Attitudinal barriers and an apathetic approach to curriculum adaptation for
SVIs also create a challenging environment to succeed [5,6].
Some universities have implemented policies to support the enrolment of SVIs and
provide accommodations to support learning. However, the specific number of SVIs in
higher education is hard to find as enrolment is relatively low. A few students overcome
significant challenges to attain higher education in competitive subjects from the
country's top universities. Previous work has provided a good understanding of the
barriers to the education of SVIs. However, it is unclear how social interdependencies
play a role in the education of SVIs and how challenges are overcome. Likely, the
combination of intrinsic motivation, problem-solving skills, a supportive social
network, and the availability of assistive technologies influences overcoming
challenges. Understanding the challenges and how SVIs are overcoming them is
instrumental for designers and HCI practitioners to create products and services that
facilitate more students to make it. Therefore, in this paper, we contribute a thematic
analysis of the educational challenges of university students from India through the lens
of the Interdependence Framework for Assistive Technology [7] and the strategies
students use to overcome challenges with reference to the Resilience Theory [8]. We
also identify and interpret the most pressing needs of students considering the above
findings.
2 Related Work
2.1 Education of Students with Visual Impairments
In diverse and complex societies, experiences with disabilities intersect with
sociocultural issues of class, gender and traditional beliefs [9]. The general
understanding of disability exacerbates stigmatisation, and gender differences
marginalise females with disabilities [10]. A significant proportion of people with
disabilities with low income also have limited access to healthcare, education, and
stable employment [11]. In India, for instance, less than 0.5% of the total number of
students in university education are disabled [12], 9.65% of disabled people in India
receive higher education [13] out of which 32.13% are visually impaired [14]. The
Constitution of India cites the Right to Education as a fundamental right for free and
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compulsory education for all children aged six to fourteen years [15]. The National
Education Policy (NEP) 2020 mandates that ‘children with disabilities will be enabled
to fully participate in the regular schooling process from the foundational stage to
higher education’ [16]. There are schemes to provide accessible content, teaching aids,
transport allowance and teacher training. Still, a lack of support for training teachers in
integrated schools [17], limited guidance and bureaucratic delays create challenges in
obtaining the allocated funds to procure assistive technologies [18,19].
Similar barriers in other countries have made teaching SVIs a neglected area. Borah
and Sorathia [20], Sahasrabudhe and Palvia [21], Lamichhane [22] and Dey et al. [23]
illustrates SVIs in India and Nepal's limited access to educational tools and report the
consequences of limited assistive technology, for instance, being unable to take up math
or science in higher education [5]. Wong and Cohen [24] describe the disconnection in
the knowledge of assistive technology and ICT skills among teachers in Singapore. In
their book Ableism in Academia, Brown and Leigh [27] theorise contemporary
academia's ableist context, challenges and practices in the UK, while Baker et al. [25]
explained reflections and barriers for visually impaired programmers from Europe and
North America through surveys and follow-up interviews. They reported that barriers
permeate all parts of SVI’s education, from accessing material and doing homework,
which increases isolation and decreases motivation.
As we can see, the education of blind students globally has many barriers and
challenges. However, the community in SVIs is not behind in technology adoption and
use. Due to the shortage of tactile content, students turn to audiobooks to access
educational materials and freely share content with peers [26]. Pal and Lakshmanan
[27] presented a rich narrative picture based on the voices of visually impaired
employees in India and their increased use of assistive technologies at the workplace.
India et al. [28] have shown that visually impaired students in an inclusive setting
actively participate in play through tangible interfaces to understand basic math
concepts and computational thinking without explicit instructions. It shows that
students and teachers are keen to learn, provided there are ways to make education
accessible, such as using games aligned with the educational curriculum [29]. An
improved understanding of the challenges SVIs in higher education face in India, their
voices, and leveraging the enhanced frameworks to understand ableism and inclusion
will provide valuable insight for disability innovation [30,31] and pathways towards a
more accessible and inclusive society.
2.2 Disability and HCI
Mankoff et al. [32] brought learnings from disability studies to the domain of HCI.
They argued that ‘by exploring individual, cultural, societal and theoretical foundations
of assistance, one can expand the view of Assistive Technology (AT) and its place in
the complex world of disability’. From there on, particularly the social and
biopsychosocial (BPS) model of disability has been used to understand and design for
the diverse needs of users with disabilities, such as designing self-tracking devices for
patients with chronic illness [33]. Applying the BPS models in the context of HCI
resonates with Interdependence Framework for AT devices suggested by Bennett et al.
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[7]. The authors emphasise that an individual’s relationship with the environment is
mediated by ATs and relationships with people who collectively work to create access.
It challenges the traditional ability-centric understanding and highlights the importance
of considering the interactions between the user’s impairment, technology, and the
environment in which it is used. For example, through autoethnography, Jain et al. [34]
explains in-situ coping strategies and how they go beyond technology. The authors,
who themselves are disabled, realised that proactive customisations by social network,
collaboration, and participation must go hand in hand to solve the in-situ need. Gadiraju
et al. [35], through observations and interviews, brought in teachers’ expectations of
technology and found that introducing an element of play, including parents, and
increasing collaborative skills can enhance education. Shinohara et al. [36] also reports
that the inaccessibility of research tools adds time and effort but increases social and
collaborative relationships.
However, despite being a practical framework for HCI and approximately one-third
of the work published in HCI about accessibility relates to visual impairment [37], the
use of the Interdependence Framework as a lens to understand the educational
experiences of people with visual impairments, mainly where technology use is limited
is at a nascent stage. Therefore, our study analyses the educational experiences and
challenges of SVIs in India through the lens of the Interdependence Frame.
2.3 Resilience and Visual Impairment
Adverse events due to visual impairment life can be understood as a perturbation to
which the person must adapt. This trait of Resilience has been previously used to
analyse the coping process among visually impaired individuals. Resilience explains
how a system recovers from adversity, sustains itself, and thrives. Ungar and Theron
[8] describe resilience as the ‘process of multiple biological, psychological, social and
ecological systems interacting in ways that help individuals regain, sustain or improve
their mental wellbeing when challenged by one or more risk factors’.
People can cope with visual impairment through self-awareness and adaptation,
facing circumstances, and through positive reinforcement processes [38]. Pathways to
resilience are also formed by independence, allowing people with visual impairments
to understand their self-identity, create social connections, and engage in recreational
activities [39]. For people with visual impairments in low-income contexts, mobile
interactions with technologies are mediated through existing social infrastructure
support that influences the use and experience of technology and, therefore, the
perception of self [40]. It is also evident that to holistically support individuals with
disabilities in India, cross-cutting health issues, caste, religion, gender, and hierarchy
must be considered alongside fostering resilience [11]. Our study uses theories of
Resilience [41,42] to identify the promotive, protective factors and processes that help
overcome the difficulties faced in the education of SVIs in India.
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3 Methods
The study aimed to learn about the challenges faced by students who made it to top
universities in India, understand how they overcame the challenges in the journey, and
identify the most pressing unmet needs. Data collection took place through a focus
group discussion with SVIs who were at the time studying at some of the best
universities in Delhi. A focus group was suitable for this research question because it
could discuss the topic in-depth. Furthermore, education and its challenges are relatable
to every participant in the group, and there may be many overlapping experiences. The
group discussion will bring forward prevalent challenges and differences, leading to
sharing practices and strategies to address some issues. The Research Ethics Committee
from UCL (UCL REC 18925/001) and Institute Ethics Committee from IIT Delhi (IEC
P-086) provided the ethical clearance to conduct this study.
3.1 Participants
Table 1. Participants for the study
Participant
Age
Current
Educational
Degree
Visual
Impairment
Background
P1
20
Bachelors in
computer science
Congenital Blindness
Urban
P2
20
Bachelors in
computer science
Congenital Blindness
Rural
P3
32
PhD in Political
Science
Congenital Blindness
Urban
P4
27
MSc in
Economics
Congenital Blindness
Rural
P5
28
PhD in English
Literature
Congenital Visual
Impairment (Light
perception)
Rural
P6
21
Bachelor’s in
Political Science
Congenital Visual
Impairment (Light
perception)
Urban
P7
20
Bachelors in
economics
Congenital Blindness
Urban
Seven university students with visual impairments participated in the study (Error!
Reference source not found.). All the participants have been visually impaired since
birth. The mean age of the participants was 24 (SD=4.93). The recruitment took place
using convenience sampling through personal communication with three participants
in direct contact with the first author. They were requested to identify more volunteers
for the study, which resulted in four more participants being a part of the study.
Remuneration in the form of food and travel expenses was provided to the participants.
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We balanced the group composition to include participants from urban and rural
backgrounds. Three participants (P2, P4 and P5) were from rural backgrounds where
awareness and understanding of disability are low, social stigmatisation against people
with visual impairment is high, and schools are not adequately equipped with the
required AT [5]. Their recalled experiences of not having access to appropriate braille
books in inclusive schools and being dependent on listening to teachers and friends.
The remaining four participants (P1, P3, P6 and P7) were from an urban background
and had studied at a special school for the blind. They had access to a bespoke education
ecosystem where learning materials were available in braille, and special educators
taught subjects like math and science. Despite a better education environment, there
were still challenges at a social level and in integrating into an inclusive university.
The group represented a community of exceptionally educated young, congenitally
visually impaired students of India who went through competitive exams to get
admitted to one of the top institutions in the country. These exams included the Joint
Entrance Exam for Engineers (JEE), JNU PhD Entrance Exam and Joint Admission
Test for Masters (JAM). Everyone was comfortable in using digital technologies and
social media and worked with laptops and smartphones daily.
3.2 The Procedure of the Focus Group Discussion
The focus group discussion was conducted in person in a well-ventilated room. It
started with an icebreaker that warmed the participants to share their thoughts and ideas
with the group. The focus group guide to conducting the data collection enquired about
their motivations to pursue education, the difficulties they faced in the educational
context, the general challenges in society and how they were overcome. The discussion
also discussed the ideal vision in 25 years that the participants would like for future
SVIs in India. The final questions of the discussion enquired about the most pressing
unmet needs of the participants at present. The entire discussion happened in English
and Hindi according to the participant's preference. The conversation was audio
recorded, translated into English as needed and transcribed for analysis.
The discussion lasted for just over two hours, during which participants showed
energy and engagement, leading to a natural flow of the conversation. Participants
shared anecdotes, observations, and thoughts about their educational experiences, their
perception of their societal attitudes, how they overcame challenges, and their
expectations for the future.
3.3 Analysis of the Focus Group Discussion
Transcripts were analysed through a thematic analysis process through a hybrid
reflexive approach [43]. Bennet et al. [7], with their Frame of Interdependence,
proposed that the frame allows us to see how people and things are connected to create
access. We used the frame to identify where things are disconnected and create
inaccessibility. Therefore, the transcripts were coded by two researchers to find
instances when the tenet of interdependence fails due to failing social relations, lack of
assistance, ableist hierarchies and notions towards the achievements of the participants.
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These codes were clustered and combined to identify themes for challenges. Previous
research has cited difficulties accessing suitable content and inadequate teaching
practices [5,11,17,20,22]. Our findings highlight interactions between people and the
environment that are restricted, misfitting or motivated by ableist notions. Therefore,
with the frame of interdependence, we provide a new perspective on ecosystem
problems beyond the more commonly reported financial, instructional, and
technological barriers.
It is important to note that more is presented in literature about difficulties in
educational experiences than factors that show how the difficulties are overcome.
Therefore, from the data, we identified practices illustrating how the participants
overcame the difficulties. Two researchers again coded practices from the data and used
the principles of the Resilience Theory [8,41] to interpret how students overcome
challenges. Based on this data reflection, we contribute the themes of self-confidence,
internalising extrinsic stressors and navigation with social resources to overcome
difficulties.
For the speculative inquiry about the ideal future and critical reflection on the most
pressing need, the seven participants one-by-one shared their vision and then the most
pressing needs and challenges in the context of education. During the discussion,
statements from each participant were enriched by comments, discussions, and
anecdotes from other group participants. The discussions were noted on sticky notes.
The notes were analysed through an affinity mapping exercise with the participants on
the spot. Through this process, the group co-identified two significant themes –
integrating assistive technologies and integrating disabled people in society.
4 Challenges
Participants in this research study were academically exceptional but shared several
challenges in the educational context to achieve their accolades. Challenges arise when
interdependence is broken, and this happens in two thematic ways:
4.1 Restricted and Misfitting Assistance in Learning
This thematic group entails scenarios where SVIs are keen to attain education, but
social relations could be more cooperative, and technologies are unavailable to create
the required access. The participants narrated many incidences in which they struggled
to get essential attention because SVIs are considered an extra burden. Due to this
perception, the needs of SVIs are entirely neglected, especially in an inclusive setting.
For example, when P4 took what is often referred to as PCMB (Physics, Chemistry,
Mathematics, and Biology) and made it into the 11th Std class, which is the first of two
senior secondary education years in India, they faced discrimination:
“When I was in school, I took PCMB. I somehow managed 11th, but the
schoolteachers were in a psychologically damaged mindset. Their first
reaction towards me was, it’s a government school, [and] they have the result
as a liability or accountability, so from the principal to all the teachers, they
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were like the result will be bad only. Out of 20, this one will fail. He [P4] has
come to this school, but our 5% result is gone, so out of that 95%, let us see
how many students we can pass.” – P4.
This resulted in actions such as:
“They [teachers] will come to the class, teach, and go without caring that I
am there. There was a shortage of reading material there as well. I used to
record their lecture, listen to them repeatedly.” – P4.
This outright denial shows how the social environment may not take the necessary
steps to create a relationship with SVI. It is not restricted to the school environment but
is also prevalent in university education. Considering the mandates from a policy
perspective, this social attitude creates a tokenistic approach toward people with
disabilities. Rather than providing a more active environment with the support of
assistive technologies, the social ecology in educational contexts is static and, to an
extent, unwilling to support SVI’s education. P6 explains this with an example:
“You see, there are a lot of [SVI] students enrolled in XXX University, and
there has been an awareness [of disability] in the university for a long time.
Once, it happened to me when our political lecture was going on, and I
requested my professor to record his lecture, to which he refused directly,
saying, ‘No, you can’t record my lecture’. Then I had to write an email to the
principal and meet her. Further, she made my professor understand that we
have such students, so you must conduct yourself needfully. Forcefully, I must
work on such things, and then get the required returns.” – P6.
This attitude also creeps to the top, where policies and directives get established.
Misinformed perceptions about the capabilities of SVIs and the lack of awareness of
assistive technologies limit opportunities for learning by creating barriers citing a lack
of AT. It is likely because the voices of people with visual impairments in decision-
making panels are also tokenistic. P5 shared his experience at a high-level meeting with
government officials:
“I was invited to a high-level meeting with government secretaries, as a
case was in the XXX Court, and they had to give feedback on what should be
done to improve accessibility. They had a draft with them in which it was
written that PPTs could not be provided, and another clause mentioned those
sign language interpreters couldn’t be provided.” – P5.
To this attitude, P5 responded:
“I mean, how can you [secretaries] conclude in advance that such things
can’t be provided? It would help if you tried it first.” - P5.
The negative perceptions about the capabilities of SVIs limit curriculum that
disallows them to pursue specific subjects. For example, the omission of math from the
curriculum of students with visual impairments in educational boards creates barriers
for those who understand math and wish to pursue it in future. P1 explained this:
“One major problem is that after Std. 7th, the school will not let you study
Math. Schools say that you will have to study the same math you studied in
classes 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th. So, because of this, it is hard to get Math
in std. 11th & 12th.” – P1.
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Some narratives in the discussion appreciated attempts made by social relations in
the educational context to bridge the access gap. Unfortunately, due to a lack of
awareness of fit-for-purpose solutions and a casual approach to implementation, the
bridge often does not fit. Social relations attempt to assist in education, but due to
various reasons, the support needs to be aligned and complete. Such misfitting relations
can happen when the mediative AT is inappropriate due to unawareness of dedicated
AT solutions or their non-availability. It can also occur when the social environment
attempts to create workarounds to communicate but at the cost of increased workload
and poor management. For example, P4 shares:
“Professors wanted to help. They wanted to provide accessible material and
work harder but had no ideas or knowledge. There were few things that they
used to do at their personal level such as Latex typing and rather than sending
us a scanned image and would be willing to type the equations and make the
ppt.”– P4.
This shows that there needs to be more awareness in general about best practices for
inclusive education. Previous research also suggests that few learning resources and
training are available for tutors in an integrated learning environment [44]. We found
that institutions have created some form of accessible learning methods, which were in
response to the demands of previous SVIs. However, even if tutors are cooperative,
additional effort takes time to create accessible content that can be restrictive for the
students. A lack of awareness about the importance of inclusion and weak enforcement
of accessibility in education is also evident through these procrastinated and reactive
attitudes to create an accessible solution for SVIs.
“The coding/programming course I was talking about had teaching
assistants. So, whatever teachers have written on the blackboard, they have
typed and given to me, but after the 1st lecture, they would give it to me after
15 days or a month later.” – P2.
4.2 Ableist Social Interactions
From a social perspective, building relations with peers can often be challenging due to
the need for more awareness and sensitisation about visual impairment. Lack of
communication can cause stigma about disability and leads to the formation of
social bubbles. P7 shared his discovery of this social phenomenon while in
conversation with one of his sighted friends.
“I was talking to a sighted friend, and she made a very good point that many
people, even in my university, are in their bubble. Someone in the ‘normalcy
bubble’ wants to stay in that bubble. They may ask you [SVI] out of curiosity
but don’t want to leave their comfort zone. They don’t want to go out of the
way and understand our angle and things related to it.” – P7.
People in these bubbles assert caution and hesitance when speaking to SVIs. P3
reflected that if people with visual impairments are part of society, then communication
should be accessible and natural, be it about disability or anything else. However,
suppose a person with visual impairment is not part of society. In that case,
communication will be confounded with presumptions that may cause fear of sounding
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offensive. Such presumptions emerge when society fails to consider a person with a
disability a part of society. Fear of speaking about disability by stepping out from the
bubble of normalcy is created by the fact that a disabled person is perceived as not
normal or as unfortunate and in need of charity.
“Most people consider us as an object of charity, people who need help, as
if we are victims and we only need help and people owe a sympathy
perception, but this is something we don’t want now.” – P1.
Directly talking to people with visual impairments about their disability appears to
be discomforting, and people generally prefer to be in a bubble of misperceptions. It
highlights deeply engrained attitudes that lead to ability-based hierarchies in which
people with visual impairments must prove their capabilities more than others. Often
SVIs are not considered productive or contributing group members and cannot be
treated equally. Such notions often lead to social situations in which people with visual
impairments are alienated despite being part of a group.
“Imagine there is a group of four friends. Amongst them, there is one
friend’s birthday is sighted. For his birthday, everyone will contribute except
the VI one; no one will ask the visually impaired person.” – P2.
On the contrary, in scenarios where the person does well in life, for example, lands
a competitive job or clears a difficult public exam, society considers a person with a
visual impairment to be a person with superpowers and gets subjected to inspiration
porn [45].
“Recently, I visited my village where a lot of people say sir, you must have
a super-intelligent mind’. I reply I have the same level of brain as you, it’s just
that I try to utilise it.” – P4.
The examples show that the contributions from SVIs are not recognised due to the
traditional ableist notions of disability. Hard work and persistence are misinterpreted to
be superpowers. A general lack of participation and visibility of SVIs in education leads
to these ableist notions. In conclusion, the participation of people with disabilities is
promoted through inclusive policies, but the emergent social relations are not equitable.
Assistance through these relations happens reactively and can be tokenistic, casual or
procrastinated.
5 Overcoming Challenges
While speaking of the above challenges, participants also narrated how they overcame
them. These practices reflected an understanding of themselves and the underpinning
reasons for the motivation for education. The following three themes illustrate the
personal and social factors that foster students’ resilience in an educational
environment.
5.1 Developing Self-Confidence
Self-confidence is an individual’s attribute concerned with the belief that a judgement
is accurate. It is also considered an individual’s ability to be sure about their abilities.
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For resilience, belief in one’s abilities is crucial [41]. Positive educational experiences
created a sense of self-confidence that motivated the participants to push ahead through
limitations and difficulties. With increased self-confidence, SVIs develop a resilient
mindset and a strong acceptance of their visual impairment. For instance, P5 had
extremely few resources during his schooling, but positive experiences in learning
created excitement to learn more.
“When I was in school in rural XXX, I did not have books. I requested other
people to narrate, yet I saw that I was performing much better than others by
listening. I saw that despite my difficulties, I am doing good. I started enjoying
this and wanted to take this further and try different things. It’s becoming my
personal journey by pushing through my limitations.” – P5.
Social ecology plays a crucial role in building a positive sense of self and confidence
in one’s actions, for instance, bridging the access divide was enough for P5 to see his
capabilities and build his confidence. Repeated positive experiences build autonomy,
allowing students to experiment, try and explore to identify and navigate resources that
sustain and improve well-being. Students demand more from the social environment to
provide resources in the form of ATs and social support, which P7 explained:
“I want to be successful and stand out from the crowd. Technology is there,
I have a laptop and mobile phone in my hand, of course, limitations are there,
but technology is there. I must focus, and developing my skills can’t be
limited. For that, I do a lot of experiments. I fail, but that’s okay. This was one
of the main reasons to pursue Liberals Arts and Sciences.” – P7.
A positive mindset about self also helps build personal coping strategies to adapt to
adverse situations. As explained in Section 4.1, restricted and misfitted
interdependencies create adversities. Due to a positive self-identity and confidence in
one’s ability, SVIs identify workarounds in such scenarios and continue to excel. For
instance, P4 developed his method to understand mathematical derivations that had
missing steps due to inaccessible class notes.
“We all are surviving because of being outstanding. We must get out of the
box. For a sighted student, all the resources are available but for us reading
material isn’t there, you can’t seek help from a book and the internet is not
accessible. So, I used to read the logic step by step and imagine ways the
sequences used to be formed to fill in the gaps in notes and then I used to check
if it matched the result. But can every student [SVI] do this?” – P4.
As highlighted above, a strong personal belief is critical to overcoming adversities.
The previous examples also showed that positive self-identity is necessary to build this
resilience developed through successful experiences and increased autonomy to
identify and create the resources needed to support well-being.
5.2 Internalising Extrinsic Stressors to Intrinsic Motivation
It was interesting to note that some participants had transformed extrinsic factors and
events into intrinsic motivation. Reflecting on these behaviours from the theory of self-
determination proposed by Deci and Rayn [42], social factors have created an intrinsic
desire to achieve to give a response either to social injustices or become valued in the
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eyes of society. For example, P3 faced many social situations that motivated him to
show people they were wrong in thinking about him and his mother.
“As I was VI by birth, the first VI in my family, my mother faced societal
taunts. So, when I was 3–4 years old, I often wondered why these people were
saying such things to my mother. No one used to speak to me; instead, they
talked with someone who used to accompany me. This was a strange societal
problem as well. So, I wanted to become independent and have my own
identity that people talk to me.” - P3
Some stories revealed the years of discrimination and suppression that the
participants faced due to their visual impairments. Responding appropriately to the
stigma motivated the participants to attain a good education from a reputable place and
acquire high-paying jobs. In this way, they believed society would respect them and
their capabilities rather than doubt their abilities and potential for life. For example, for
P4, his perceived image in the community he came from was important to him, and
increasing his social value within this community motivated him:
“I come from a rural background where educated people are highly valued.
If, along with education, you get a permanent job, people literally worship
you, so that's the kind of value you get there. So, for me that was a huge
motivation to get a better education and get back to my region where I can get
valued there.” – P4
P6 was motivated by a more personal factor – his grandfather’s job in the
government service. The esteem and privilege that his grandfather’s employment
bestowed had motivated him to gain similar employment that would enable him to
contribute to society’s development, and in turn, he would be viewed as a contributing
member of society.
“Someone close told me that if I get educated, I will be a big man, so the
words ‘to be a big man’ attracted me. My grandfather had a government job
and was highly respected because of that. He was a big man. So, I wanted to
be a big man.” – P6
The above examples describe the internalization of social factors to create the
intrinsic motivation to be educated. Social relations also facilitate access to missing
information which we describe ahead in greater detail.
5.3 Navigating with Social Resources
In recent years, Resilience Theory has been used extensively to study social ecology's
effect on an individual’s ability to cope with adversities [8]. Many of the narratives
described before highlight the role of empathetic teachers, peers, and friends to support
and provide the access required for education. We use the term empathetic because
these activities are not generally standardised and are invented by social relations in
bespoke ways to create access. These include teachers who understand the needs of
students and are willing to put in the required efforts to help them understand the
subjects. It requires additional time from their end, increased workload, and creative
effort to develop interfaces that are accessible to the students and help them learn about
a concept. For example, for P6, learning Math was a challenge until a new teacher
13
worked closely with him and changed his perspective and self-confidence toward
learning.
“A new teacher had come; she didn’t know how to teach well. I was very
weak in Math. You can say that I used to fail in Math. But then we had another
new teacher. He worked on me a lot and pushed me to the point that I could
pass my Std.10th. Otherwise, I had no hope of passing.” – P6.
P2 and P7 shared that teachers who provide special attention to students are highly
appreciated. They can make learning more enjoyable and improve their educational
experience.
“There used to be one teacher who supported me in English, Math, Science.
I couldn’t see much; there were no books. I was partially sighted, so we used
to sit under the bright sun, and the teacher used to write big letters on the board
from either a sketch pen or write big letters on the copy and teach Math. He
used to teach me separately.” – P5.
However, special attention can only reach some. It also means that education
depends on the motivation and intelligence of the special educator. A good teacher can
build confidence and capabilities; however, a bad teacher can severely damage the
SVI’s personal resilience and problem-solving ability. Teachers may also be unable to
find ways to teach students with visual impairments at the same level as their sighted
peers. In such scenarios, students tend towards friends and family members.
We identified many situations in which friends and family helped with reading,
writing, and explaining a topic. Beyond access to education, these practices promote
social inclusion and the formation of new relations and begin to include SVIs as part of
the group. For example, when the teacher of P1 could not provide access in a needed
way, he turned to friends, which increased his social integration within the university.
“My professor used to write code on boards rather than laptops. This used
to be his problem. Many times, I told him to explain whatever he wrote, but
he used to say it was my habit and used to say that he would do it next time,
but he never did. So, I reached out to my friends and studied with them.” – P1.
This highlights how SVIs and their community organise themselves to create
pathways to access education. Better AT to promote and support such social relations
can also improve inclusion and learning experiences. However, the ATs must promote
the right attitudes towards people with visual impairments because existing perceptions
may still be constrained within the ableist hierarchical structure. SVIs in social
scenarios can still be perceived as an object of ill-health, as a student who is less
productive, not equal, and in need of help.
6 Unmet Needs
Having understood the challenges SVIs face in education and how they overcome them,
this section focuses on needs that still need to be met.
14
6.1 Integration of Assistive Technologies
Participants agreed that educational resources need to be improved for independent
education, and access to graphs and diagrams is a significant issue. Specifically, the
lack of accessibility to graphical data was highlighted, creating challenges for students
to pursue math and science subjects to survive the challenges posed by the subject. Not
being able to understand the subject due to a lack of resources is damaging as they may
not understand and deliver to their fullest expectations.
“If diagrams are unavailable and friends are not always available to help,
how will a student survive at a university level? It will be very problematic. If
one is interested in the field and cannot learn 100% in the field or give his
100%, then he will get demotivated.” – P7.
Two participants strongly advocated that all visual media must be made accessible
for students with visual impairments to understand the subject through tactile graphics
or automated means to provide text-based descriptions of the graphics. This raises the
need for a tactile display interface that is visualised by one of the participants in the
following comment:
“At the initial stages in school, during 9th and 10th, the tactile diagrams are
available, but what after that? In college, there are not a finite number of
problems. Making diagrams for everything is not possible. So, in this case,
there needs to be a device, like a braille display, something that we connect to
the laptop or smartphone and just like the braille text, we can see the diagram.”
– P1.
Enquiring further about tactile displays, it was surprising to note that none of the
participants had purchased a tactile display. Two participants were given a refreshable
braille display from the university, while one borrowed a display from a friend. The
remaining participants have just seen such devices or never felt the need to buy one.
Despite the need for tactile interactions expressed in academic literature and the amount
of research and development in this field, people still are unsatisfied with the available
products or at least need to perceive a sufficient benefit to purchasing. Another
participant mentioned that finding a good scribe who can understand the answers and
translate them to write in exams is a significant burden and can be eliminated by
introducing computers as a medium for exams. Deliberating on this thought, the group
discussed that it is possible only if computers are introduced in early education and with
software solutions that require minimum human intervention. Accessing academic
books through audio and appearing in exams through computers can solve many
challenges that SVIs face.
“If we make computers accessible and available at an early school level,
where the subjects are also confined, that will give more students a better
education who may also take up technical fields. They will demand more and
will create the need for better and more accessible materials.” – P7.
Previous research has also pointed to increasing access to tactile media and
introducing computer interfaces at an early school level. Doing so will provide SVIs
with an opportunity for independent learning, increasing personal resilience and
improving autonomy and problem-solving ability.
15
6.2 Integration in Society
Fostering personal resilience covers half of the factors necessary for a better educational
experience. Two participants from the group (P4 and P2) strongly felt that the most
pressing challenge is the lack of awareness and negative societal attitudes towards
people with disabilities. The group regarded this issue as the root of the other
challenges, as can be seen in the comment from P4:
“My biggest challenge is the lack of awareness of teaching and non-teaching
staff. They don’t know how to help or treat.” – P4.
Participants shared that all educational institutions should treat an SVI like a regular
student, not a special student with special needs. Participants agree that ATs discussed
earlier will make people's lives easier and more productive. However, how society
changes to include and value people with visual impairments at par with sighted people
was still concerning.
“New technologies will keep coming, but how far the mindset of people
will change, we don’t know.” – P2.
The group felt that attitudinal changes in society go much slower than technological
advances. The availability of technology would surely facilitate the change in levels of
accessibility. Still, it will create a gap between places where technological accessibility
is available and where it does not exist.
“Attitude change is obviously at a very slow pace. Because of this, there
would be a huge gap, which would be the most negative side because some
institutes like private institutes will provide, and some will not.” – P7.
Discussing this point further, P3 shared that the empowerment of people with
technology will make them more independent and successful. As dependence on
society decreases, society's negative attitude can be easily ignored or improved through
better participation of SVIs. Hence, technological advances must also aim to change
societal perceptions and attitudes toward disability. Society creates greater barriers for
people because of its procrastinated, burdensome attitude toward accessibility and
inclusion. The bubble of normalcy is so comfortable that people are happy to stay in
the shadows of misinformation, away from reality and need for proper accessibility,
equitable opportunities, and relevant support so that the motivation that drives SVIs is
facilitated. Participants share this attitudinal concern concerning their social
integration.
“Because of technology, we will get empowered. The technological shift
will be there, but change will be at our level only. The attitudinal level changes
at a slower pace. With AT, disabled people can do everything independently
but won’t have self-satisfaction with society. They will be educated and have
everything but still will not get valued. Suppose you are doing a good job and
still you face delays for your marriage.” – P2
7 Discussion
This paper attempts to understand the challenges, practices, and needs of SVIs who
make it to competitive universities in India based on the Framework of Interdependence
16
and the Resilience Theory. We found that educational challenges arise when the tenants
of interdependence break and the social environment around an SVI fails to take the
necessary steps towards access. A lack of awareness about assistive technologies
solidifies the ableist bubble of normalcy. Further, it hinders the development of social
relations, while a lack of communication causes misperceptions about the capabilities
of SVIs.
We also found that overcoming challenges requires self-confidence fostered by
academic success. Many participants had also developed a method to internalise
extrinsic social stressors into intrinsic motivation to succeed in education and navigate
the challenges of inaccessibility with whatever is available in their ecology. Finally, we
found that in terms of technology, there is still a dire need to increase the availability
of tactile media and computers in education, with which students can learn
independently and build their autonomy and command over the subjects of their choice.
It is also important to note the need to facilitate social integration in the ecosystem to
abolish ableist hierarchies and establish equitable interactions and collaborations.
7.1 Rethinking Education to Facilitate Independence and
Interdependence
Existing education policies and practices can be critiqued to promote ableism and
tokenism. It focuses on adapting SVIs to the education system, citing differences in
abilities and accepting that visual impairment is a problem that requires special
adjustments to be fixed. For example, it motivated the curricular adaptations that limit
choices for students, and its implementation without appropriate teacher training limits
the support SVIs get in schools. The policy allows students to use screen reading
software to appear for exams and use computers in schooling; however, schools or the
board have no mandate to provide software or hardware support [18,19]. The lack of
access to AT creates dependencies, and with inappropriate support, surviving the
educational environment becomes challenging.
Therefore, on the one hand, the education system needs to empower students with
AT to develop autonomy over their experience and develop more command by having
the opportunity to learn independently. At the same time, the system needs to be
empowered to identify ways that facilitate better and deeper relations with their social
ecosystem. Empowerment through assistive technology in employment [27] and peer
effects in learning [26] have been discussed before. Our findings extend these works
by showing the impact of makeshift AT by interdependent actors in the educational
ecosystem that creates access to information. Previous research also highlights the
challenges in learning math at high schools [20,22,23]. Still, participants opted for math
in our study. Our findings highlight how some exceptional students can internalise the
challenge and develop bespoke methods to visualise and access mathematic
information. We also found teachers overcoming the disconnection in AT knowledge
and using ICT skills [24] but with the perception of an extra burden.
Therefore, there is more that needs to be done beyond access to affordable AT [46],
better teaching practices [47], and putting people with diverse abilities together in an
integrated classroom [16]. The ability-based design framework [48] proposes designing
17
systems focusing on users' abilities. The Frame of Interdependence allows us to see
these social relations, relations with AT, and the contributions of people with
disabilities [7]. The Disability Interactions framework brings in the value of co-design
and co-creation that acknowledges participation and power balances [49]. These
frameworks and co-designing educational tools that increase independence and foster
interdependence will be necessary for inclusive education. We aim to explore solutions
at the intersection of these frameworks in future work.
7.2 From Assistive Education to Inclusive Education
Previous research has shown that due to a lack of tactile tools [20], accessible
information [21,23,26,27] and appropriate teaching practices [22], students find it
difficult to pursue education. Our research highlights that assistive education was
realised through makeshift tech by teachers in the educational ecosystem (such as Latex
files) and through peers that collaborate to create access to information. In practice,
these actions were considered an extra or a special effort to support a few capable and
outstanding students; not every SVI can have that entitlement. Therefore, education as
a human right needs to move away from the disability-centric bespoke approaches that
have been reported to cause an invisible burden to the person with a visual impairment
and their social environment [50] to widely available inclusive practices that every
student can engage using their respective abilities.
Project Torino is an excellent example of an AT that can provide an equal
collaborative learning experience not determined by the visual impairment [29,51]. Its
implementation has shown that students with diverse abilities actively participate in
play through tangible interfaces to understand basic computational thinking concepts
without explicit instructions [28]. Another tool called Tip-Toy uses tangible blocks with
QR codes that allow students with diverse visual abilities to learn basic computing [52].
Play-based approaches have been used to co-design inclusive games that promote
engagement between disabled and non-disabled players. The games used multisensory
feedback and a tactile crafting process that engaged children in an engaged and
collaborative behaviour [53]. However, despite the improved learning experience
provided by tangible interfaces, their practical implementation in contexts where
technology use has not been a traditional way of teaching requires developing ways for
manageable adoption. In such cases, more mature technologies such as Alexa are
paving the way to facilitate inclusion [54].
7.3 Limitations of the Study
While we contribute a qualitative rich insight into the challenges, practices and needs
of SVIs in India that compliments research from around the world, the study has some
limitations. Although the participants have diverse backgrounds and provide a good
representation of challenges, the small sample size of seven participants needs to be
improved in how SVIs create creative ways to overcome challenges. Second, all the
study participants were male because very few people with visual impairments in top
universities, and the number of female students is even less. From our sampling, finding
18
more participants in the given was not feasible. However, this study is part of a longer
ongoing research within which we hope to further develop our understanding through
different genders, stakeholders of the educational system and cities. Third, using the
frame of Interdependence and Resilience Theory to understand challenges and ways of
overcoming them is just one of the many ways this data can be reflected. Furthermore,
these are evolving conceptual frameworks; hence, we can identify richer and more
detailed insights in future work as the frameworks evolve.
8 Conclusion
In this paper, we report findings from a focus group study that explored the educational
experiences of university students with visual impairments in India. To improve
educational experiences, significant steps are required. A lack of understanding about
inclusion and a casual approach creates restricted or misfitted assistance and ableist
social interactions. Students overcome these challenges through self-confidence,
intrinsic motivation, and honing the ability to navigate accessibility through available
social resources. We emphasise the need to empower SVIs through the necessary AT
to support independent learning, foster social interdependence, and for the education
system and practices to move from assisted education to inclusive education.
Acknowledgements. We want to thank all the participants for their time and support.
UK FCDO AT2030 Life-changing Access to Assistive Technologies GB-GOV-1-
300815 and UCL Graduate Research Scholarship supported this research.
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