Visual Impairment in the City: Young People’s Social Strategies for Independent Mobility

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Date

2013

Authors

Worth, Nancy

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Urban Studies

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

Keywords

visual impairment; mobility; young people; identity

Citation

Worth, N. (2013) Visual Impairment in the City: Young People’s Social Strategies for Independent Mobility Urban Studies 50: 574-586, doi:10.1177/0042098012468898