Abstract
It is barely taken into account that a visually impaired child might one day become a parent. Research on the insider perspectives of parents on parenting with a visual impairment is scarce. This exploratory study reports on how six mothers and seven fathers living with a visual impairment experience parenthood. An individual or paired open interview, followed by qualitative content analysis, captured their multi-layered and personal lived experiences on parenting. Analysis of the data collected revealed three themes: the actual practices of daily parenting as an exploration of a personal and unique toolbox for each parent; a parental urge to prove themselves to overcome extra doubts, pressure and othering; and the relational work of parents with their partner and child(ren).
Highlights
This research offers visibility to mothers and fathers living with visual impairment and their lived experiences with parenting– a group and particular mode of child-rearing generally overlooked in literature on parenting
The present research highlights the insider position of parents living with a visual impairment and elucidates experiential subjectivity in qualitative research (Ashby, 2011) – which remains largely unrecognized
Analysis of the narratives of the six mothers and seven fathers living with a visual impairment resulted in three themes: daily practical burdens and solutions; the urge to provide ‘good enough’ parenting; and relational parenting concerning partnership and connection with their children
Summary
This research offers visibility to mothers and fathers living with visual impairment and their lived experiences with parenting– a group and particular mode of child-rearing generally overlooked in literature on parenting. Instead of their visual impairment as such, their position as parents and their parenting is the primary focus of this study. This exploratory research employs a person-centred approach based on lived experiences to comprehensively make sense of the existing practices of visually impaired parenting and expand existing societal views on the subject. Its instrumental approach displays differentiating, simple and problematic views on visually impaired parenting – leading Bolt (2015), Goodley and Runswick-Cole (2016) and Titchkosky and Michalko (2012) to call for a destabilization of such considerations of visually impaired parenting
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