Before learning of the first week in FGTDD, I simply thought that disability is people with some visible impairment, for example, somebody who cannot see or cannot hear or people who has unsound limbs.
After watching first week’s lectures, I realized that my old definition of disability was really narrow minded and plainly. I learned that “Disability covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions”. And some disabilities are even invisible, like Asperger’s Syndrome, we cannot tell people have this syndrome for the first sight, but they have some problems in speak, non-verbal communication and social interaction etc., but they also have some talents in memorizing things, and they are talented in some fields like chess and music.
In a word, I think for our works in Disability, Design and innovation, we needs to understand what kind of symptoms our users and what makes their daily lives difficult, or how can we better improve their lives. What are their special needs, to help live like normal people, or even live a better life than human people because people with disabilities also have their special talents.
At the same time, some design made for disabled people can also make normal people’s life easier, so it is also about inclusive design.