Bridging community engagement efforts to support blind and low vision high school youth to transition to college and beyond

Abstract The transition to college and beyond can be challenging for high school youth who are blind or have low vision (BLV) due to accessibility-related barriers which may be encountered. Community-based practices to support these transitions have received relatively limited attention within the research community and are seldom documented. We collaborated with a local BLV community organization working with students of transition age to learn about their practices and investigate how university-based efforts could bridge and complement their work. Through program observations and semi-structured interviews with program instructors, we found that the community organization empowers BLV youth through interest-driven learning, equal prioritization of abilities and preferences, active engagement, identity-matched mentorship, and identification of accessibility blockers (e.g. accommodations). We incorporated these insights into a university-run workshop, developed through a long-term community-engaged approach and found that building trust, rapport, and channels for knowledge sharing helped bridge efforts from the community organization and the university, and led to significantly empowering interactions with BLV youth. Implications for organizers, researchers, and educators, point to the need for concrete long-term engagement steps, centering lived experiences and identities rather than solely higher education or career opportunities, and timely collaborative advocacy practices to support transition periods for BLV youth.