A Case Study of Two Music Education Majors with Visual Impairment

This chapter shares the experiences of two music education majors with visual impairment—Christopher and Lindsey. Christopher, who was visually impaired beginning at birth, began taking piano lessons at the age of five and playing the clarinet in the fifth grade. Christopher decided to become a music teacher in his junior year of high school. Lindsey planned to teach choral music in a public school and to perform as a vocalist. Lindsey's experiences with her undergraduate and graduate professors played a major role in shaping her professional decisions. "Connecting with others" emerged from Lindsey and Christopher's perceptions of how others viewed them and how they viewed others. At some points, Lindsey and Christopher described society's disabling conditions and, at other times, the experience of impairment. Lindsey and Christopher actively combatted disabling conditions constructed by society. Christopher and Lindsey's experiences highlight the continual reliance on sight in education and music education.