Visually Impaired University Students of Bangladesh during the Pandemic: Vulnerable or resilient?

• In Event: Negotiating Power, Trust, and Equity: Cross-Border Perspectives on Higher Education and Society

Proposal

Introduction:
Despite decades of attempts to reduce or eliminate society's negative attitudes and biases against Persons with Disabilities (PWVIs) and to aid nations with limited resources, particularly in rural areas, these efforts have yielded only minimal success. People with disabilities (PWDs) continue to face discrimination, and those living in impoverished communities struggle to meet their basic needs due to limited resources.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already existing vulnerability of PWDs compared to other members of society. The COVID-19 responses reproduced environmental, and institutional barriers for visually impaired students, increasing unequal treatment (National Association of Social Workers, 2020). Studies show a poor pandemic response and a lack of support from universities around the world (Al-Oraibi et al., 2022) for students with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the lived experiences of Bangladesh's visually impaired university students during the COVID-19 pandemic and their coping mechanisms using a qualitative research approach to investigate how individuals or groups interpret any social or human phenomenon (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Methodology
We used grounded theory design, which is a process of collecting and analyzing qualitative data and then generating categories and theories from the data that can explain a phenomenon of interest (Charmaz & Thornberg, 2020). For this research, data were collected from 9 visually impaired students studying at a public university in Bangladesh through in-depth interview which are the most effective tools for a grounded theory approach (Chong & Yeo, 2015). Data were analyzed in three phases: initial code developing, then axial code developing, and finally developing selective codes (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Findings: The emerging theory
We discovered that visually impaired students combined different types of resources (a complex interplay of their presence and absence). They translated these resources into a tool or instrument to cope with this emergency, which was new to them. Some of these resources were new, and some were already present in their lives. We classified the resources into material, economic, social, and educational. Because of the different contexts where they lived, the combined resources or instruments worked differently for each. Students’ attributes, in addition to the context, influenced their use of the instrument or tool. Finally, the instruments had varying effects on their lives, including their psychological, educational, daily life activities, health care, and socio-economic situation.







Educational Experience
Participant 1 found it easy to enroll in online classes and access Google Classroom materials due to his prior IT knowledge. However, he needed a smartphone (a new material resource), which he got with the financial help of his teachers and peers, with whom he already had a good relationship (a previous social resource). All these resources combined allowed him to continue his online education during the pandemic. He believes that his interest in IT and his approach to problem-solving, which are personal attributes, enabled him to combine all these opportunities for coping with his education during that emergency period. In addition to his personal interests and life philosophy, he asserts “the environment significantly contributed to educational success. Before the pandemic, when I was living in the residential hall, I would frequently spend time with friends and commute from the residential hall to the university campus with them. During the pandemic time, I did not have to commute and had more time to spend on my study”.
Psychological Experience
The psychological aspects were critical for all of the students. Feelings of helplessness, depression, anxiety, and distress are the psychological states that they mentioned. Participant 1 and Participant 7 informed us that they made an effort to communicate with their friends and establish connections with their classmates. However, Participant 7 says “The availability of this resource for visually impaired students was limited during the pandemic, as most of our friends, whether visually impaired or not, was busy adjusting to the new environment”. Moreover, Participant 7 believes that most of their non-visually impaired friends were on their phones most of the time during the pandemic to socialize via social networking platforms. This further isolated the visually impaired students. As a result, using their existing social resources, their friends, became difficult.
Another resource that the students talked about for combating psychological issues was getting authentic and sufficient information in time. During the interviews, all the students expressed concerns about not receiving appropriate, sufficient, or timely information. Participant 5 explained that “sometimes we receive information, but we are the last to receive it, so it is too late for us to act promptly. We miss opportunities to act quickly because we don't receive the information on time”.
Experience of Daily Life Activities
Regarding daily life activities, all visually impaired students expressed their ability to perform basic tasks like cooking, taking a bath, and changing clothes by themselves. They all mentioned that they lead a very basic life, which requires less work, maintenance, and money. This lifestyle helped them during the pandemic. Participant 9 stated that “the pandemic shut down numerous activities in the lives of those who can see engaging in activities such as socializing with friends, visiting libraries, paying visits to relatives' homes, and going shopping. We did not have those activities much in our daily lives. Therefore, the pandemic did not significantly disrupt our daily lives”.
However, commuting, if needed, was an issue for them. The students who experienced partial sightings said that it wasn't a significant problem for them. They were able to travel independently to familiar locations. However, the fully visually impaired students expressed significant concern about venturing outside and traveling even short distances, as they may require assistance from others.
Economic Experience
All the students, except Participant 7 and Participant 8, come from families facing financial hardship. They primarily relied on their pre-existing material resources to manage their financial struggles. All of them, except two, had their sources of income, such as part-time jobs, businesses, or private tutoring for students. For instance, Participant 3 operated a small business from sixth grade, Only Participant 7 and Participant 8’s financial condition was good, and the pandemic did not change their financial situation much.

Authors

• Sumera Ahsan, Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka

• Md Mozadded Hossen, California State University Sacramento

• MD ABDUS SALAM, Institute of Education and Research (IER), Dhaka University