“Design Meets Disability” was a really eye-opening read (pun intended). As we know, eyesight issues are common throughout the world, including myself. In recent years, there has been an explosion in the number of people wearing glasses. Although sight issues are increasing within the population, this isn’t the only reason why people are wearing glasses. Even with contact lenses or corrective surgery being a possibility for many people, lots of individuals are choosing glasses for fashion and stylistic reasons. To be specific, as of 1991, the design press declared that “eyeglasses have become stylish” (page 17). Even more than just eyesight problems, the book discusses many other physical disabilities such as hearing aids, where the company HearWear invested in its design unlike other companies. As Henrietta Thompson put it, “Over the decades, there has been an amazing amount of technical development of hearing aids, but in that time little or no design investment occurred” (page 25). I believe the reason is that they have focused much more on the technology and developing it more precisely, as they may be more complex than eye lenses.
Moving onto body wear, leg wear, and prosthetics, the book claims that there are only two approaches, which include realism and functionalism (page 35). In an increasingly complex world, we must value, as the author said in page 64, the word design in “designing for disability.” As a matter of fact, when googling “designing for disability,” the first thing that pops up is “To design for disability means giving your users control and options.” See, that’s the misunderstanding; there’s a huge focus on functionality that disregards design. Designing for disability isn’t as inclusive and thoughtful as I had assumed, and looking ahead, I’m hopeful for a future where designing for disability embraces creativity, to hopefully empower individuals of determination not to feel ashamed but to serve as inspirations for us all. I’m not sure if it was mentioned, but I wonder what the author’s take would be when it comes to braces or getting a cast— aspects that aren’t necessarily permanent but rather temporary.