Around the world, there is increasing awareness of the importance of providing services and support that are person-centered and promote better mental health through social integration. This awareness is only possible because of the recognition that both mental and physical health are in urgent need of attention and because even though we function as individual subjective humans, together, we construct a society that shapes a system of interlinked actions.
In the wider community context, people with visual disabilities are limited to the attributed societal stigma and therefore often denied opportunities to attend certain schools, to seek employment, to enjoy leisure activities and even to choose freely if they should and how to carry a child. It is important to note that this limited way of perceiving the person with visual impairment has a bidirectional impact as it limits our own personal ability to adapt and therefore progress in forming a responsive and accepting society.
Adapting ourselves to the work with people with visual disabilities requires self-reflection, motivation and flexibility – mental and physical.
- Accommodating the means of communication through usage of correct channels: we prioritize not what is the easiest for us, but what is possible for the other.
- Avoiding conceptualization of the disability, usage of terms, idioms and descriptions to describe the state: people must be able to decide on the vocabulary when talking about their experiences and to rely on individual choice to self-identity.
- Respecting boundaries in verbal communication: respective and professional type of communication allows to establish a secure ground without interfering with personal aspects. One has the freedom to choose if he ever wants to discuss intimate topics.
- Spatial orientation in the workplace: if we enter the room where a colleague with visual disabilities is working, we always greet verbally and inform him/her of our intentions in the room. Ensure full accessibility in the work environment though physical assistance when requested.
- Relying on evidence-based approach: avoiding assumptions and attributions of another person’s feelings and needs. Instead, we could ask and then further help if needed.
- Awareness of our own personal emotional reactions and preparedness to assist: often, we experience anxiety due to lack of confidence, knowledge, understanding or fears. Those experiences guide our behavior in a way that encapsulates the other person’s ability to learn, adapt and grow by providing unnecessary assistance.
Those very preliminary aspects centralize not only public needs for inclusiveness, but also focus on individual subjective needs for growth.
