Participatory research with young people with visual disabilities: When the exclusion and inclusion stories take to the streets

Abstract

In order to visibilize the reality of people with visual disabilities, a Human Library is carried out as an innovative and participatory methodological strategy. A group of adolescents with some visual disability, participate sharing through their narratives their experiences and experiences related to disability and the social response. In this work, the voices of two teenagers with blindness who choose for their oral story the narration of their school career from childhood to post-compulsory education are analyzed. The participatory research strategies used during the celebration of the Human Library as well as the records of the previous discussion groups and the participant observation. The analysis make possible to identify the more recurrent educational barriers in the history of young people related to the climate of the educational centers, the methodologies and the role of teachers, but also makes possible identify levers of change that invite us to rethink the educational practices of school inclusion and exclusion.