Social Recognition, Participation, and the Dynamic Between the Environment and Personal Factors of Students With Deafblindness

The study describes environmental and personal factors that, from the student perspective, impede participation in education in secondary upper schools by students with postlingual deafblindness. The discussion is framed by the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. The researchers use the theory of social recognition as a theoretical tool in understanding the dynamics between personal factors and environment in the context of secondary upper-school education. Thirty-four students with deafblindness responded to a questionnaire; the survey's findings indicate experiences of barriers in the natural and social environments that restrict participation. Experience of considerateness—such as concern for the special requirements of students with deafblindness—and experience of the lack of considerateness are the most important factors. Negative roles adapted by some students for themselves may be interpreted as resulting from a lack of recognition, in the form of denigration or insults.