Communication and Blindness: The Local Work of Spaghetti

• In Event: 2349 - Disability and Society: Experiences of Work

Abstract

This article examines the local work of the interaction orders within which people who are visually impaired or blind experience challenges in face-to-face social interaction. Sighted people rely upon sighted cues and gestures and visible methods of communicating meaning that is in accessible to visually impaired and blind people and these missed interactional cue disrupt communication and may even lead to communicative breakdowns. The data examined illustrates the means by which disruptions in the local work of engaging in ordinary mundane activities is revealed by the participation of people with visual disabilities.

Author

• Derek C. Coates, University of California-Berkeley