“Disability is something imposed on top of our impairments by the way we are unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society.”

Too often, when we talk about disability, the focus is only on what a person can’t do.

But disability isn’t just about individual impairments. As Lennard J. Davis reminds us:

“Disability is something imposed on top of our impairments by the way we are unnecessarily isolated and excluded from full participation in society.”

It’s the barriers, physical, digital, and attitudinal, that turn difference into disadvantage. It’s the lack of ramps, captions, inclusive hiring, and flexible design that disables people, not their bodies or minds alone.

When we design a world with access, inclusion, and dignity at its core, disability becomes less about limitation and more about liberation.

What would our workplaces, classrooms, and communities look like if we stopped seeing accessibility as an add-on and started seeing it as essential?