The meaning of visual impairment to visually impaired adults.

The purpose of this study was to explore the subjective meaning of visual impairment in the context of day to day life to adults whose visual impairment began in their adult years. Information was elicited through interviews from 25 people whose visual impairment ranged from an inability to see ordinary print to no light perception. Hermeneutics, as elaborated by Ricoeur, was used in the interpretation of the texts (transcribed interviews). A core variable, adjusting to a visual impairment, and five distinct categories, each with subcategories, emerged from the data. The meaning of visual impairment was derived from the manner in which the categories interrelated with the process of adjusting.