What is my value? Visually impaired student reflections about feeling valued in PE

This study explored visually impaired youths' perspectives toward feeling valued in integrated physical education. Situated in an experiential qualitative approach, this study utilized inclusion understood as an intersubjective experience broadly, and feeling valued specifically, as a conceptual lens to guide and inform methodological and data interpretation decisions. Eighteen visually impaired youth completed two interviews each using video conference technology or phone call, and audio recorded, transcribed, and subjected to reflexive thematic analysis. Three interrelated themes were constructed, depicting the participants experiences and perspectives of what it means to be valued, and if they felt valued, within integrated physical education: (a) feeling valued is contingent on others, (b) value is unavailable without accessibility, and (c) being valued for possessing (non-athletic) characteristics. Participants described feeling valued or unvalued based on accommodative (e.g. peers acknowledging their impairment) or un-accommodative (e.g. teachers forgetting their impairment and needs) experiences with others within the PE context.