Reading Design Meets Disability really made me rethink the way we approach assistive devices and design in general. We often talk about design in terms of making things beautiful, sleek, and desirable, but when it comes to tools meant for disabled individuals, the conversation suddenly shifts to pure function. This reading flips that on its head. It challenges the idea that products like hearing aids, prosthetic limbs, and wheelchairs should be discreet or invisible. Instead, it argues that they deserve the same thoughtful, creative attention as a pair of glasses or a smartphone. Why shouldn’t a wheelchair be stylish? Why can’t a prosthetic leg be a bold expression of identity? Nowadays, this sort of mindset has become even more relevant, where people are proud to talk about and display their disabilities; they are no longer a matter of stigma.
What stood out to me most was how this reading doesn’t see disability as something to hide or fix, it sees it as a space full of untapped potential for design. The reading uses real-world examples and poses fascinating questions that got me thinking: what if hearing aids were designed with the same care and flair as high-end earphones? What if voice synthesizers had more emotional range and didn’t all sound like robots? This vision of inclusive design isn’t just about making things accessible; it’s about making them desirable. That’s a big difference. It’s not about helping people fit into a narrow idea of “normal”, but rather it’s about expanding what we think is normal to include a wider range of human experience and expression.