Visual Impairment in the City: Young People's Social Strategies for Independent Mobility
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Date
2013-02-01
Authors
Worth, Nancy
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sage
Abstract
This article examines the mobility strategies that visually impaired (VI) young people employ as they negotiate their daily lives in the city. In contrast to research which foregrounds difficulties navigating the built environment, the article provides new insights into how VI young people engage with the city as a social space, arguing that VI young people's goal of achieving 'unremarkable' mobility is constrained by an ableist society that constantly marks them out, frustrating goals of independent mobility which are important to young people's transitions to adulthood. Drawing on young people's narratives, three mobility strategies of young people are examined: concealing VI with friends, performing VI with white canes and travelling with guide dogs. Each is evaluated for its potential to help VI young people achieve identities as 'competent spatial actors'.
Description
Worth, N. (2013). Visual Impairment in the City: Young People’s Social Strategies for Independent Mobility. Urban Studies, 50(3), 574–586. © 2013 Urban Studies Journal Limited. Reprinted by permission. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042098012468898
Keywords
Blind Populations, Geography, Children, Space, Disability, Vision, Bodies, Dogs, Experiences, Consumption