“Me and My Guide Poodle, Lara, are About to Begin Our Third Year at the Hebrew University”: Adults with Visual Impairment and Blindness Position Themselves Interactively in Computer-Mediated Conversations

Abstract

This study explores the discursive construction of social communication by people with visual impairment and blindness (VIB) who use a Braille display technology in an asynchronous computer-mediated (CM) forum. Two questions guide this study: What topics do the participants focus on? How do the participants position themselves interactively? The researchers analyzed 248 messages produced in 19 threads between June and November 2012 via content and positioning analyses, and computed the density of recurring patterns. The analyses highlight the distinctive daily problems with which forum members cope. Moreover, in contrast to previous interview-based studies which found that negative emotions tend to undermine decision-making, socialization, and coping processes in individuals with VIB, the findings show that the participants co-constructed solutions as they readily, amicably, humorously, and at times optimistically engaged in social interaction and positioned assertive, stigma-free selves vis-à-vis one another and the public.