“It is useless to ask” - The causes of not requesting reasonable accommodations: A qualitative study

• In Event: Disability in Society Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 4. Education and Work

Abstract

Secondary school teachers with partial sight, severe visual impairments, and blindness require assistive materials, devices, and technologies, as well as personalized instruction rooms and personal assistants to support their teaching activities. Despite these needs, only some requested such accommodation from their employers, meaning most did not. Accordingly, this study aims to explore the reasons why secondary school teachers with partial sight, severe visual impairments, and blindness in the Bukhara Oasis did not request necessary reasonable accommodation from their employers, despite needing them. This study employed a phenomenological approach in qualitative inquiry. A total of 28 face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with teachers having partial sight, severe visual impairments, and blindness, as well as their school personnel from 18 secondary schools in the Bukhara Oasis. Additionally, educational experts from the Blind Society of Uzbekistan were involved to enhance the quality of the research. Secondary school teachers with partial sight, severe visual impairments, and blindness viewed requests as futile, as Braille and large-print textbooks were unavailable for secondary schools, and magnifiers and Braille displays were too costly. They avoided requesting screen readers due to high costs, inability to use them, non-usable school computers, and fear of principal disapproval. Personalized rooms were unfeasible as all classrooms remained occupied, while a lack of awareness about rights prevented requests for personal assistants. Following this, the Ministry of Preschool and School Education of the Republic of Uzbekistan should revise its regulations for teachers with partial sight, severe visual impairments, and blindness in secondary schools, as this study reveals why such teachers often avoid requesting accommodations, deeming them futile due to unavailability, high costs, and other barriers. Policymakers can draw from these insights on interpersonal dynamics and disability laws to foster blind-friendly workplaces where visually impaired educators thrive in mainstream settings.

Author

• Saodat Tolibovna Gulyamova, Bukhara State University