Full Text Available
Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.
Eye of the beholder : othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025.
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2025
|
| Tags: |
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1867614128808394752 |
|---|---|
| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Van Dyk, Rouxnell |
| author2 | Watermeyer, Brian |
| author_browse | Van Dyk, Rouxnell Watermeyer, Brian |
| author_facet | Watermeyer, Brian Van Dyk, Rouxnell |
| author_sort | Van Dyk, Rouxnell |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/134398 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:47:07.138Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/134398 Eye of the beholder : othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis Van Dyk, Rouxnell Watermeyer, Brian Richards, Rose J. Swartz, Leslie Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Psychology. Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2025. Van Dyk, R. 2025. Eye of the beholder: Othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/f434003f-ebb0-4e5c-82ab-b764913f4d1d Background and Setting: I was born with Albinism and a severe visual impairment (VI), and I acquired facial paralysis (FP) during adulthood while undergoing surgery to remove an Acoustic Neuroma tumour. The study’s setting was a small town in the Western Cape in South Africa where I grew up and am still living. The literature indicates that people with a VI and people with a facial disfigurement (FD) may experience profound discrimination and Othering. For example, visually impaired people may be subjected to Ocularcentrism (sightedness being considered superior to blindness), and may be asked personal, infantilising questions regarding their impairment, whereas people with facial disfigurements may be avoided, stared at, or evoke disgust reactions in their observers. Additionally, both the theory of Posttraumatic growth and the idea that disabled people may be living with acute and/or chronic trauma have recently come to the fore, and require investigation. Research Aim: To explore my lifelong, gendered experiences of Othering based on my congenital VI and acquired FP. Research Objectives: The objectives of the study are to: • Explore my experiences of Othering, as a person living with a congenital VI, and later as a person living with both a congenital VI and acquired FP. • Compare the nature of my experiences of Othering before the onset of my FP to that of my experiences after the onset of my FP. • Compare my experiences of Othering to those of people living with either a VI or FP alone. • Gain a deeper understanding of how my congenital VI and acquired FP work together to aggravate or ameliorate my experiences of Othering. • Explore how my reactions to my congenital and acquired disabilities may reflect PTG and/or resilience. • Explore how gender may interact with disability in mediating my experience of Othering. Methodology: The study was qualitative, was guided by the theory of social constructionism, and was an auto-ethnography. Data were collected by following the Phenomenological approach and keeping a reflective journal, and was analysed by means of Thematic Analysis. Findings: The study shed light on my personal experiences of being Othered, on how being a woman impacted these experiences, and on how and to what extent my experiences correspond with and/or differ from those of people living with only a VI or a FD. The study furthermore showed how my disabilities may interact to aggravate or ameliorate my experiences of Othering, and explored how my responses to them may be understood in terms of Posttraumatic Growth and resilience. Conclusion: The study has implications for both practice and future research. Most importantly, it showed that, even though progress has been made in terms of eradicating the Othering that people with a VI or with a FD may experience, mainstream society’s attitudes towards these groups remain mostly negative, and that addressing these issues should be seen as both crucial and urgent. The study also suggests that, if this goal is to be reached, research that results in implementable and realistic strategies being formulated, is required. Masters 2025-11-19T10:29:27Z 2025-11-19T10:29:27Z 2025-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/134398 en Stellenbosch University 163 pages application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Van Dyk, Rouxnell Eye of the beholder : othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis |
| title | Eye of the beholder : othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis |
| title_full | Eye of the beholder : othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis |
| title_fullStr | Eye of the beholder : othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Eye of the beholder : othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis |
| title_short | Eye of the beholder : othering, congenital visual impairment, and acquired facial paralysis |
| title_sort | eye of the beholder othering congenital visual impairment and acquired facial paralysis |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/134398 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT vandykrouxnell eyeofthebeholderotheringcongenitalvisualimpairmentandacquiredfacialparalysis |