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Abstract
Two major themes emerged from a qualitative case study on the 2017 hurricane season in Puerto Rico and its impact on people with visual impairments. The first theme was independence as it related to personal autonomy. The second theme was abandonment as expressed by people with visual impairments from informal social systems and formal institutions. Interviews were utilized in Puerto Rico of people with visual impairments, representatives of organizations serving people with visual impairments, and relief agencies. The more skills in independence a person with a visual impairment had, the higher their wellbeing throughout the hurricane season. Abandonment prevented participants from navigating the 2017 hurricane season to their maximum capability. Independence and abandonment are discussed separately, how they influence each other, and how these themes extend to other disabilities and in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some people with visual impairments had training to live independently and they found it useful in living through the hurricanes.
Some people with visual impairments did not have much training to live independently and they said that if they had it, it would have been a great help during the hurricanes.
People with visual impairments in Puerto Rico did not feel that organizations met their needs very well through the hurricanes.
People with visual impairments in Puerto Rico said that society tries to take care of them too much and that this is a reason they do not get the independence skills they need.
The more that people with visual impairments, or anyone with a disability, receives skills in independence, the less they will feel that they are not a part of the rest of society.
Points of interest
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.