Picking Up the Pieces: Finding My Way as a Visually Impaired Woman in Higher Education (Disability Studies)

What barriers and traumas do students with disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments, experience in higher education settings?

Drawing on personal experience, author Stephanie Levin provides an overview of disability history within higher education settings and explains the impact of poor care on disabled students. Stephanie was only 20 when she experienced retinal detachment that required surgery. Shortly afterwards she experienced retinal detachment in the same eye which resulted in vision loss. With her newfound identity as a visually impaired woman, Stephanie struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. She refused accommodations within her university for fear of stigmatization, but she found that her acquaintances, professors, and friends viewed her differently.

Through themes of trauma and identity, this book is ideal reading for teachers, carers, and disabled students as well as students of Disability Studies and Education.

Stephanie A.N. Levin is a doctoral candidate in the educational leadership program at Rowan University. She is also a management assistant at the Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine. Stephanie is enthusiastic about promoting inclusiveness for higher education students with disabilities and she is an advocate for accessibility and social justice.