Inclusion for a student with vision impairment: “They accept me, like, as in i am there, but they just won’t talk to me”

Abstract

We explore the experiences of Nick, a secondary school student with vision impairment in an Australian mainstream school in this study, and we particularly focus on whether he perceived his education as inclusive. We have used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis in this single individual case as this approach explores our participant’s understandings which may be revealed by close examination of mindful experiences. The “gem” spoken by Nick (pseudonym), our 16-year old participant, was “They accept me, like as in I am there, but they just won’t talk to me.” This statement summarises his sense of not belonging, of being other, and of being bullied. The inability of his school to provide an inclusive education was apparent to him, and his often-unfulfilled need for access to specialist teachers of vision impairment is explored. Our study includes vivid quotes from Nick to bring his voice to our phenomenological interpretation.