VISION REHABILITATION & RESEARCH
Double Blind
Finding New Ways of Seeing and Beeing Seen
Rehabilitation is Also Psychological
Vision rehabilitation can help people develop new skills and greater independence. But rehabilitation is not only a functional process. It can also be psychological.
Vision loss may require people to reconsider assumptions about independence, identity, work, relationships, recreation, and quality of life.
A person may learn how to use a white cane, navigate public transportation, use assistive technology, or adapt their environment. But beneath those practical changes may be deeper questions.
These questions are central to the psychological experience of rehabilitation.
Who am I now?
What does independence mean to me?
What is important to me now?
What does a good life look like?
RESPONSE SHIFT
When What Matters
Changes
Response shift is a concept from quality-of-life research describing changes in the way people evaluate their lives following significant health or life changes. People may change their internal standards, priorities, or understanding of what makes life meaningful.
BEFORE VISION LOSS
“Being independent means being able to drive.”
The person's circumstances have changed. But so has the meaning of independence. This is one way to understand response shift.
Recalibration
The standards we use to evaluate ourselves or our circumstances may change.
Reprioritization
The relative importance of different goals, values, and life domains may change.
These processes may help explain why a person's experience of quality of life cannot always be understood simply by measuring changes in physical functioning.
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Reconceptualization
Our understanding or definition of something may change.
THE GAP
Function is Not the Whole Story
For decades, vision rehabilitation has recognized that functional performance alone does not fully capture a person's experience of vision loss. Visual acuity and visual fields provide important information. But they do not necessarily tell us:
How someone feels about their life
What they value
What they fear
What they hope for
How they understand independence
Whether their goals have changed
Whether they have developed a new sense of meaning
Vision loss can trigger grief, denial, anger, fear, and uncertainty. Over time, coping and adaptation may develop. As they do, people may report greater well-being even when their level of visual impairment remains unchanged.
This raises an important question:
What happens when the person changes
the way they define the outcome we are trying to measure?
This is one of the questions that drives Joshua's research interest in response shift and vision rehabilitation.
RESEARCH
Connecting Science with Lived Experience
Joshua's research interests focus on the psychological processes involved in adaptation to vision loss and other life-changing events.
Response Shift
How people's standards, priorities, and understanding of quality of life may change following major life events.
Coping and Resilience
Understanding how people respond to difficult circumstances and develop new ways of moving forward.
Vision Rehabilitation
The psychological processes that accompany functional rehabilitation and adaptation to vision loss.
Identity & Meaning
Exploring how major life changes can influence identity, purpose, values, and what people consider meaningful.
Quality of Life
Understanding quality of life as more than a collection of functional outcomes.
Research Collaboration
Out of Sight Psychology is interested in collaborating with researchers, universities, clinicians, rehabilitation professionals, and organizations exploring the psychological dimensions of vision rehabilitation.