Striving to remove barriers that prevent us from building Vibrant, Diverse, Inclusive, Accessible Communities!
The author shares a direct challenge: stop looking away from People with Disabilities. Drawing on her childhood experiences at a children’s rehabilitation hospital, she describes how confidence grows when difference is met with respect and real accessibility, not avoidance.
She details how care and engineering work together—early myoelectric prosthetics, custom orthotics, and newer 3D-printed components—to fit a child’s body and goals. That collaboration moves ideas out of the lab and into daily life faster, from learning and play to sport and performance.
The piece centers children who use prosthetics and orthotics, including amputees and young athletes, and shows how social habits like looking away create real problems: invisibility, isolation, and missed chances to participate. The fix is cultural as much as clinical—choose curiosity and inclusion over discomfort.
Her closing invitation is unapologetic: meet difference with attention, support the innovations that remove barriers, and keep your gaze steady. When people stop averting their eyes, possibilities expand and a sense of belonging becomes real.
Read the Full Article: I Dare You To Stop Looking Away From People With Disabilities
by: Sheriauna Haase
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