Before reading Graham Pullin’s Design Meets Disability, I thought about assistive technology in a pretty simple way: the better the design, the more it should be invisible. Like a lot of people, I assumed that the goal for things like hearing aids or prosthetic limbs was for them to blend in, so users could just “look normal” and not stand out.
Pullin completely changed the way I think. He points out that trying to hide a device can actually make people feel like disability is something to be ashamed of. Instead, designers should think about fashion, creativity, and self-expression.
The example he gives with eyeglasses really hit me. Glasses used to be seen as a weakness, but now they’re a fashion statement – people even wear frames without lenses! That shift happened because designers stopped trying to hide them and started making them bold and stylish. I realized it’s not visibility that’s the problem, but the lack of thoughtful, positive design.
I really agree with Pullin that we should stop seeing users as “patients” who need fixing, and start seeing them as “wearers” who can express themselves. Athletes like Aimee Mullins show this perfectly, treating her prosthetic legs as works of art or fashion. She’s not just adapting to a missing limb-she’s making a confident personal choice through design. This made me see that style can empower, rather than hide, disability.