![]() That was when I realized the value of communication in receiving assistance for someone who is visually impaired. “I felt as if I was being transformed from a piece of furniture to a human being who can actually travel. “I suddenly felt a burst of enthusiasm,” Bhagchandani said. When a more conversational assistant replaced the silent one, Bhagchandani finally was able to embrace her travel experience. He silently wheeled her throughout the airport without any conversational or visual aid in a place and situation that was completely foreign to her. Here, I not only lost the ability to see but my ability to walk as well.”īhagchandani’s interaction with the first assistant didn’t go well. “That’s the only form of assistance they offered. “At that time in India, if you requested assistance during air travel, it was assumed that you will need wheelchair assistance, even if you can walk,” Bhagchandani said. In 2011, Bhagchandani embarked on her first independent journey traveling internationally, where she discovered the myriad difficulties visually impaired individuals experience when traveling in an airport. Like her master’s thesis, Bhagchandani was inspired to research this topic from a personal perspective. ![]() In December 2020, Bhagchandani completed her doctorate in human communication from ASU’s Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, presenting her dissertation on air travel experiences for people with visual disabilities. I was expecting to see different findings because it’s a huge change, but most of the couples were able to maintain their relationship closeness and in some cases improve it.”ĪSU grad Bhoomika Bhagchandani is researching how visual impairment affects couples. Most of them pointed to how open and genuine communication over the years helped them figure out most of their problems. “An interesting find in my study was that most of the couples’ closeness actually went up. Reassigning cooking and cleaning duties - everything around that changed for most couples,” she said. ![]() Driving them to school and back or participating in their sports activities or recreation activities can be a challenge. ![]() “Especially if a couple has small children. “Mainly what came out from my own study is the reassigning of household roles,” Bhagchandani said. And that, ultimately, leads to closer couples. She found that redistributing household responsibilities is one of the most essential parts of adjusting to the vision loss for these intimate relationships. She didn’t know it then, but when Bhoomika Bhagchandani’s parents began searching for a husband for her in India, this experience became her first - and most important - source for a thesis she would pen in her master’s in communication studies program at ASU's New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences.ĭeveloped out of curiosity when families and potential partners would back out after learning she had a visual disability, Bhagchandani’s research looked at the impact of a spouse’s acquired vision disability post-marriage on the relationship closeness of couples. ![]()
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