Paper short abstract:

He is a renowned doctor, heading a department in a leading hospital in India; turned blind in an acid attack 30 years ago. This study explores meaning blind Indian achievers gave to blindness and intrinsic factors that led them to it by studying their narratives using phenomenological methodology.

Paper long abstract:

Blindness as a disability is associated with multiple meanings, symbolism and imageries. Achievers for this study are defined as individuals who were born blind or became blind and who went ahead to choose a profession and excelled in it. The researcher herself had a lived experience of losing sight as she grew up. This purposefully brought her to the study and also added a unique richness both as a listener and teller. The sampling was purposive. Overall 20 participants including – 7 women/13 men, 5 individuals born blind/15 became blind. Life narratives were captured using semi structured interviews lasting from 90 minutes to 120 minutes. The Interpretative hermeneutic phenomenological approach was deployed. ~250 pages of transcripts produced, themes drawn out and unique aspects retained too. The achievers encapsulate and convey trauma, recovery, hope, healing, agency and power. It showed how blindness causes victimization. The meanings these achievers have attributed to blindness and achievement have changed over a period of time essentially meaning that our stories evolve over a period of time. Today all of them see blindness as a part of their ‘design’, an ‘opportunity to innovate’ and as an opportunity to ‘make a difference’. Studying intersectionality especially from a gender and socio economic area showed the complexity of differentiating the consequences caused by these dimensions in an individual’s identity.

Experiences with disabilities are unique and hence each story is valuable. Lived experiences have to become the bed rock of policy making.