VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1, BY DIANA HERRERA

CSULA WEEKLYEDSP 4690: Psychological, Sociological, and Vocational Implications of Visual Impairment and Blindness

Special Report Headline – Without Wheels: On the

Road to Positive Affirmations for Visually Impaired Teens

By Diana Herrera

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very single Orientation and Mobility lesson in the community is composed of learning about Subaru’s, Porches, Mercedes Benz, Mustangs and any cool car that blazes through the street. As a student teacher I am learning about all these cars from my enthused, car loving student. He knows every make, model, and year of the cars that he admires

and has several favorites. During lessons, he exclaims “I’m going to get the GT Subaru when I grow up, it’s really fast and I can go drifting.” He is 14 years old and diagnosed with congenital glaucoma. He has decreased acuity and visual field limitations which make it difficult for him to ever be able to legally drive a car.

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All teens dream of the day that they can obtain their driver’s license in order gain some independence from their parents. For teens with visual impairments it might be difficult to accept that they will never get that chance to wait in the long lines of the DMV, nervously, hands dripping in sweat while waiting for their turn to take the driving test. Then, the moment of truth comes when you pull over into the DMV’s parking lot with the evaluator and they tell you whether you passed or not. These teens will never experience those moments of nervousness and excitement due to their visual impairment which understandably creates psychosocial issues when they are confronted with the inability to drive. As professionals we need to support positive affirmations in these teens by acknowledging their feelings and building a positive, healthy self-concept through encouragement of self-acceptance and informed choices (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000).

The psychosocial issues faced by teens with visual impairments when confronted with the inability to drive are real and as professionals we should acknowledge their feelings and allow them to grieve the loss of being able to drive (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000). Moses established that it is important for individuals grieve when they have a sense of loss in order to be able to focus on new dreams and let go of the dream of driving that was not possible due to their visual impairment (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000). As professionals who work with teens with visual impairments we should be empathetic, listen to their feelings, and let them know that their feelings are appropriate. This will allow the teen with the visual impairment to later turn this struggle into strength because they

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were able accept that they have to do “things” differently from their peers and focus on a new dream such as playing an instrument well (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000).

Teens with visual impairments will encounter several situations where they will have to do something differently than their peers which is why developing and maintaining a positive, healthy self-concept through encouragement of self-acceptance and informed choices is imperative (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000). Self- concept refers value and beliefs of one self that is derived from the individual and the reflections of others a positive, healthy self-concept through encouragement of self-acceptance and informed choices (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000). When a teen realizes that they will not be able

to drive having a well-built and positive self-concept will allow them to persevere that reality. Professionals need to continually encourage self-acceptance from a young age and encourage students’ families to do so as well by respecting the teen and having high expectations of them (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000). The teens with visual impairments need be able to appreciate their own strengths, weaknesses, value and respect themselves as worthy individuals in order to have positive concept (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000). Providing the individual with informed choices will also allow the teen with a visual impairment to build on their self-concept because it provides responsibility and accountability to the individual (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000). For example, having the individual choose whether they want to take the bus or a taxi to a certain location of their choice provides responsibility to the individual. A consequence that choosing a taxi over the bus may provide is that they run out money quicker so

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they have less money for entertainment. Encouraging the individual make their own choices and faces their own consequences whether negative or positive allows the individual to build on their self–concept in order to be able to overcome the psychological issues that they may face due to their visual impairment (Holbrook &Koenig, 2000).

The disappointment, fear, anxiety, shame, grief that is felt by teens with visual impairments when the confronted by the inability to drive needs to be acknowledged by professionals

and families. We can begin to build these individuals self- concept when they are young and throughout their life so when they face difficulties it is easier for the individual to have a new dream. The love of cars of my student will unavoidably turn into disappointment, fear, anxiety, shame, or grief when he is more mature to completely understand that it is not something he can do due to his visual impairment. He can be presented with a different options such as possibly designing cars as a career or going to car shows as a hobby.

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