Models of Disability
President George H. W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. [Source: Wikimedia Commons]
Handbook of Disability Studies by 
The Psychological and Social Impact of Illness and Disability by Handbook of Disability Studies by 
Understanding Disability by
The Psychological and Social Impact of Illness and Disability, Seventh Edition by 
Law and the Contradictions of the Disability Rights Movement by
Sinéad Burke is acutely aware of details that are practically invisible to many of us. At 105 centimeters (or 3' 5") tall, the designed world -- from the height of a lock to the range of available shoe sizes -- often inhibits her ability to do things for herself. Here she tells us what it's like to navigate the world as a little person and asks: "Who are we not designing for?"
"I believe that losing my hearing was one of the greatest gifts I've ever received," says Elise Roy. As a disability rights lawyer and design thinker, she knows that being Deaf gives her a unique way of experiencing and reframing the world -- a perspective that could solve some of our largest problems. As she says: "When we design for disability first, you often stumble upon solutions that are better than those when we design for the norm."
