Descriptions of legal blindness, as lived experience—involving continual movement between the world of sightedness and blindness—are largely absent within medical models of disability. In an effort to challenge depictions of blindness as pathology, researchers in this project worked with participants who are legally blind, on a co-created film, exploring built spaces in the city of Edmonton, Canada.
Participants in this research shared stories while recording their movement through a shopping mall, an art gallery, and a gym. Through this project, participants often took the lead, determining the content and context of urban journeys. Stories and images shared through this collaboration suggest that legal blindness is an alternative way of knowing the world, with unique perceptual experiences, and navigational strategies.
This research was developed with members of the CNIB, and Dr. Megan Strickfaden from the Department of Human Ecology at the University of Alberta. Results have been published in Rethinking Disability: World Perspectives in Culture and Society (by Garant in Antwerp, Belgium), and by Societies: Spatial Explorations and Digital Traces: Experiences of Legal Blindness through Filmmaking.